A court in Amsterdam has ruled that cartoonists are allowed to draw parodies of Dutchman Dick Bruna’s creation Miffy.
The cartoons in question show the famous children’s book character involved with drugs, sex and terrorism.
Dick Bruna took punt.nl to court after finding seven cartoons on the website depicting the normally innocent bunny using drugs. The court ruled that five of the drawings were clearly parodies and that adults would not associate them with Dick Bruna's character. Punt.nl has been ordered to remove two of the drawings because they are literally copied from the original.
In the past ten years, Mercis BV, which publishes the Miffy series, says it has taken three cases to court. It won the first and the second was settled out of court. The last case went to appeal.
The publisher says it is very alert about protecting Miffy's copyright because the character is so easy to duplicate. In the past, images of Miffy have often been removed from internet pages after receiving a stern letter from the publishing house.
(nc/ae/imm)
© Radio Netherlands Worldwide
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She's 61 years old. It's about time that she starts to explore the world. I'm confident she won't make bad or dangerous choices.
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