(Untitled)

[chocomarimba]

 

Comments

[x_xcyanidex_x]

Im Dutch soo i LOVE the miffy NIJNTJE!

[chocomarimba]

i completely love miffy too! just last week i had to convince my friends that miffy ISN'T japanese and ISN'T a copy of hello kitty :(

[x_xcyanidex_x]

Nope it's Dutch and way older than Hello Kitty + they sewed Sanrio last year for copying Miffy and they won!!
But I still love HK more :P

But almost ALL Dutch babys wear Nijntje/Miffy stuff (nijntje is a dutch babytalk way to say konijn, wich means bunny)
The creator still lives too + this year is the 5th anniversary of the Miffy museum =D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Bruna =D

But Japanese ARE the biggest Miffy fans + buyers EVERR

[chocomarimba]

I NEED TO VISIT THIS MIFFY MUSEUM <3

[evawhimsy]

Miffy is adorable, and I like it better than Sanrio tbh. But that decision was a little shady tbh, copyright protection is generally much more limited than that. I think the fact that it was a Dutch court ruling against a foreign corporation might have biased the decision somewhat.

[x_xcyanidex_x]

Noo it's about a bunny who's HK friend that look waaaaay too much like miffy!
It was an international court banning all merchandise with that bunny

[evawhimsy]

Yeah, Cathy! I agree they look similar, but usually copyright cases consider whether there are actually that many real alternative ways to make something in that style (for example, there are only so many ways to draw bunnies in that whole simplistic but cutesy Miffy/Sanrio style). But I haven't read the decision, so I don't really know!

And which international court? Is my google-fu failing me? I can only find coverage on the Dutch decision.

Haha sorry, I think my intellectual property law geekery is showing...

[x_xcyanidex_x]

If it would have been a Dutch court, it would apply globally would it?
I love HK waaaaay more but I have to agree with Dick Bruna

[evawhimsy]

Nope, only within Dutch jurisdiction! So Sanrio can sell Cathy products in other countries, but they had to stop distribution in the Netherlands.

[evawhimsy]

But if they went through international channels (like WIPO or GATT) they could potentially stop distribution in all countries that are member states of those international organizations.