Case Comment: The SABC, Madam & Eve, Mother Anderson and the mealie woman

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Published date: 25 May 2019
• Date: 25 May 2019
• Pages: 399-403
• Author: Tana Pistorius
• Citation: (1997) 9 SA Merc LJ 399

THE SABC, MADAM & EVE, MOTHER ANDERSON AND THE MEALIE WOMAN



399

The SABC, Madam & Eve,

Mother Anderson and the Mealie Woman

TANA PISTORIUS

University of South Africa

Fictional and cartoon characters form an inseparable and important

part of today's society as a result of both their creative and economic

value. The use of familiar characters from the entertainment media to

advertise and sell products, namely comic-strip characters such as

'Batman', 'Spiderman' and 'Peanuts', and film-cartoon characters such

as 'Mickey Mouse' and 'Tweety Bird' is a known phenomenon. These

famous characters may be used as a theme for the advertising and sale of

a wide range of products from T-shirts to photo albums and breakfast

cereal.

The licencing of cartoon characters annually generates enormous

amounts of money, yet the legal protection of these products of ingenuity

is contrived (see Cathy L Lalor 'Copyrightability of Cartoon Characters'

35 (4)

IDEA J of Law & Technology

497 at 497 and 503). Lalor (op cit at

500-501) notes that courts in the United States have extended protection

to fictional characters of a literary or pictorial nature (she refers to

Warner Bros Pictures Inc v Columbia Broadcasting Systems Inc

216 F 2d

945 (1954), also known as the 'Sam Spade' case; and also to

Walt Disney

Productions v Air Pirates

581 F 2d 751 (1978) at 755 where it was held

that the 'Mickey Mouse' character was entitled to protection apart from

the stories in which he appeared) and have also extended character

protection to 'the story being told' (Lalor refers in this regard to

Universal

City Studios v Kamar Industries

1982 CCH 25,452 (1982) at 17,684 where

merchandise inscribed with the slogan 'ET Phone Home' was held to

infringe the unique and distinctive character of the motion picture 'ET';

(1997) 9 SA Merc LJ 399

© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd