
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 18, 1991                   TAG: 9104180129
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

MUPPETS VS. MICKEY: DISNEY CHARGED WITH MISUSING CHARACTERS

First they broke off the wedding. Now Miss Piggy is accusing Mickey Mouse of carrying on as if they were married.

What was once one of America's more tender courtships soured into a court feud Wednesday as the owner of Piggy, Kermit and other Muppets sued Walt Disney for alleged misuse of the famous characters.

The lawsuit, filed by Henson Associates Inc. in federal court in Manhattan, charges that The Walt Disney Co. used images of Muppets without a license in television commercials, movies, books, brochures, T-shirts and other merchandise - and in Disney's 1990 annual report.

The legal action stems from a dispute over whether Disney has the right to show the Muppets after protracted merger talks with Henson Associates broke down in late December.

The 90-page lawsuit accuses Disney of "outright theft of Jim Henson's legacy," thus terminating any apparent affection between Disney and the company Henson founded.

The lawsuit accuses Disney of illegally showing Muppet characters in television commercials, "fostering the unmistakable impression that the Muppet characters are part of Disney Inc.'s profit-making machine."

Henson is trying to bar Disney "from performing, advertising, merchandising and acting in any way that suggests Disney owns or has any rights to the Muppets."

Disney spokesman Edwin Okun said an agreement signed with the Muppet maker in the summer of 1989 gave Disney "implied license" to show the characters. Okun also said Disney had paid money to both Jim Henson and his company, but he declined to be more specific.

by CNB