Deadmau5 isn’t the only one who’s been having troubles with Disney in the past few years. ID&T’s landmark festival Tomorrowland has also encountered legal issues back when it first announced its initial expansion to the United States. Since the Walt Disney Company holds the trademark to Tomorrowland throughout the States, it forced the festival promoter to change the festival from Tomorrowland to TomorrowWorld for the Belgium event’s sister American festival.
Well now ID&T decided to fight back following the incoming release of Disney’s new movie Tomorrowland: A World Beyond, starring George Clooney and Hugh Laurie. As you might have guessed, ID&T happens to hold the rights to Tomorrowland in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, thus blocking Disney from releasing the star studded feature in these three respective countries. Trademark attorney Sharon Daboul further explained the situation to the Belfast Telegraph:
“Disney has a trademark registration in the USA for the term Tomorrowland, dating back to 1970. With this registration, it was successfully able to prevent the music festival from calling itself Tomorrowland when it launched in the USA. However, the music festival has the rights to the term in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg and has prevented Disney from using the name in these countries.”
It’s unclear as of yet how Disney will respond to this attack, but it still currently plans on releasing Tomorrowland: A World Beyond on May 22nd in the UK. We will update you as more information becomes available.
Source: The Belfast Telegraph
