Essay On Character Merchandising

CHARACTER MERCHANDISING

Character Merchandising began as a secondary exploitation in the entertainment business and in no time turned into a herald as far as gross era. It is characterized as the business misuse of the most crucial elements, for instance, the name, picture or appearance of a genuine or an anecdotal case in connection with the merchandise.A whole era of kids exposed to Ben 10, Power puff girls, Donald Duck, Dexter and Doraemon can identify with lunch boxes, water bottes etc with these characters. Toys can include baby toys, soft toys, puzzles, games, dolls and many other sub-categories. Kids love to have something of their favorite characters in comics, video series or motion-picture shows. Disney recently tied up with Funs

He becomes the owner of the copyright. The Indian Copyright Act provides an exclusive right to an individual to authorize the reproduction of a work into another form. In the case of Star India Pvt Ltd vs. Leo Burnett (India) Pvt Ltd, 2003(2) Bom CR 665 the court held that it is necessary for character merchandising that the characters to be merchandised must have gained some public recognition, that is, achieved a form of independent life and public recognition for itself independently of the original product or independently of the milieu/area in which it

For instance, taking the case of Sourav Ganguly v. Tata Tea ltd. wherein the court ruled in favour of Sourav by accepting that his fame and popularity is his intellectual property and a Tata Tea Ltd has no right to trade on his popularity. The court extensively analyzed the concept of personality merchandising in the case of D.M. Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Baby Gift House and Ors CS(OS) 893/2002. The court recognized that Mr. Mehndi’s persona was improperly used by the defendants in the dolls and that this misled consumers into believing that the dolls were endorsed by Mr. Mehndi. The court further stated that such commercial exploitation caused significant losses to the plaintiff and held the defendant liable for passing off. In the present age the concept of celebrity rights has become much more significant because of the increasing popularity of the media and cyberspace. Image or personality merchandising in regard to any product without consent will lead to untoward outcomes. As per Article 19 of the Indian Constitution, celebrities have a right to publicize their