I have long been a critic of our trademark and copyright laws for years as companies claim an ever-widening array of common names and symbols — suing over everything from the right to use of an apple in a logo to using expressions like “who dat? Now, Walt Disney has filed for trademark rights to the name “Seal Team 6” only days after the Bin Laden operation.

Trademark and copyright laws were designed to protect creativity and encourage productivity. Instead, they are now becoming constant threats to writers, artists, and others who use common symbols or expressions. Even such iconic speeches as “I have a dream” have been the subject of litigation despite the fact that they are given on the Washington mall in public events.

President Obama has yielded to copyright hawks and has supported the criminalization of violations. The White House has even threatened bloggers with the improper use of the presidential seal on their sites. In the meantime, attorneys suing citizens under these laws are now suing people who are trying to help citizens accused of violations.

Citizens are being hit with ridiculous demands for damages and cease-and-desist orders. This is a case of lobbyists controlling the agenda in Congress with increasingly absurd results.

Disney will soon own Seal Team Six because it is . . . well . . . Disney. In the future, it would save time to imply have formal sponsors and product placement in such raids.

Just for the record, Disney has already found the seals to be a bit of a handful:

Source: USA Today

Thank you Elaine for the Mickey clip!