OUP sale; Disney steps in to ban Sister Act

Oxford University Press has some law books on sale at 50% of their original prices. The sale stock includes three IP/IT flavoured titles. This sale ends on 18 February 2007, which doesn't leave much time to order.


Serious news has arrived from The Irish Times, via the IPKat's friend Deirdre Kilroy (LK Shields): performance of a play that was to be staged by students at the National University of Ireland, Galway, had to be pulled after organisers received notice from IP owners Disney, threatening legal action if the production went ahead. The production was said to be "loosely adapted" from the 1992 Disney film 'Sister Act'. According to the play's producer:

"Six months of hard work, all for nothing. Cast and crew had given up their weekends and any spare time to rehearse and promote the play. They are simply in disbelief that something they have poured their hearts and souls into has been destroyed by an organisation that has brought joy to many of them in their younger years".

The play was to be performed by GigSoc ("Gay in Galway Society"), a charitable, non-profit-making society aimed at promoting safety and integration for the student lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community - and penguins, if its home page is anything to go by.

The IPKat is disappointed that Disney has missed out on what might have been an excellent opportunity to teach the students at Galway a good deal about the benefits of copyright, if it had handled this episode in a less heavy-handed manner. As it is, the company has left a group of potential friends and allies in a state of mutinous distress over copyright law. Irrelevant fact: Disney last year had 133,000 employees, Merpel notes - twice as many people as live in metropolitan Galway.

Sister Act The Musical here
Tangling with Disney can be tough: see Walt Disney v Air Pirates