Can I legally sell my own paintings of Disney characters if I put the Disney "D" in the bottom corner? - Legal Answers (2024)

The Disney characters are trademarks belonging to the The Walt Disney Company and its affiliates. So painting them in your paintings would infringe on their trademark rights. Would Disney find out if you are just selling them among your friends -probably not. But if they did they will issue a cease and desist letter and even maybe bring litigation as they are fierce protectors of their marks. We represented a party planning company that was contacted and nearly sued by Disney for using their characters at birthday party events and the like. So just understand that it is their intellectual property, you would be infringing their intellectual property and that there are risks to infringing on a large company's intellectual property.

The answers given are informational only and do not constitute legal advice. Please feel free to contact me if you want to obtain legal advice from me.

So far, this is free to you. Until you pay a fee, I am not your lawyer and you are not my client, so you take any free advice at your sole risk. I am licensed in IL, MO, TX and am a Reg. Pat. Atty. so advice in any other jurisdiction is general advice and should be confirmed with an attorney licensed in that jurisdiction.

Absolutely not. You are creating "derivative works" which you cannot do without permission from Disney.

Wow... you would not only be violating Disney's copyright by using their images in paintings but if you used their logo you would likely additionally be infringing on their trademark as well by, among other things, diluting their mark and misleading. You really need to sit down with an intellectual property attorney to discuss your options.

Attorney Golab is entirely correct. The legal issue is not who gets the credit for painting the Disney characters, the issue is whether you [or anyone] has the right to sell such paintings at all. The short answer is no because those characters are copyright-protected images and Disney owns the copyrights -- which means it has the EXCLUSIVE right to sell those images. No matter who creates them.

The above is general information ONLY and is not legal advice, does not form an attorney-client relationship, and should NOT be relied upon to take or refrain from taking any action. I am not your attorney. You should seek the advice of competent counsel before taking any action related to your inquiry.

No you cannot paint, offer for sale, sell, or otherwise tinker with a Disney character, at least it is illegal without an express license from the Walt Disney company.
Disney does not want credit, they are a for profit business and their business is to license their characters and other things.
You, and your buying friends, are infringing on a legitimate copyright owner and most likely, if caught, will be in deep yogurt.
Why don't you use your talent to create your own characters and paint from your imagination.

I am neither your attorney, nor my answers or comments in AVVO.com create an attorney-client relationship with you. You may accept or disregard my free advice in AVVO.com at your own risk. I am a Patent Attorney, admitted to the USPTO and to the Florida Bar.