Disney in Spain (1930–1935)

Abstract

This article looks at the ways in which the global brand par excellence – Mickey Mouse – spread throughout Spain in the early 1930s. In tracing the creative and commercial interplay with the Mickey character we show how the Disney Company failed to obtain any significant intellectual property rights in its own name or obtain a sympathetic hearing by Spanish patent and trademark officials. Yet this was undoubtedly a period of significant global development of the Disney brand. With the attempt to explain such an apparent contradictory situation, this article highlights the importance of the management of particular struggles in the flux of desires, appropriation and investments that contributed to the emergence of the elusive ‘merchandising right’.

Keywords:

• Disney
• trademarks
• brands
• licensing
• folklore
• marketing
• children
• appropriation
• citrus industry
• toys

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Notes

1. Benjamin, Selected Writings, 545.

2. Kozinsky, “Mickey and Me”; Litman, “Mickey Mouse Emeritus”; Heald, “Testing the Over-.”

3. Grzelak, “Mickey Mouse & Sonny Bono Go to Court”; Posner, “Response”; Depoorter, “The Several Lives.”

4. Wilkins, The Maturing and “The Neglected Intangible”; see also Chandler, “The Emergence” and Scale & Scope.

5. Aaker, “Dimensions of Brand Personality”; de Chernatony and MacDonald, Creating Powerful Brands.

6. Schwarzkopf, “Turning Trademarks into Brands,” 165.

7. Article 2 of the Paris Convention (1883); for a discussion, see generally Ricketson, The Paris Convention .

8. Seely, History of the International Union, 7 .

9. Jacobson, “The Question,” 422.

10. Colino, “Copyright Protection.”

11. Solberg, “Copyright Enactments,” 92; see also the Spanish Royal Orders of March 1906 and 26 June 1914 regarding the copyright registration of North American citizens in Spain; Fernández Mourillo, Legislación y Propiedad Intelectual, 131–132.

12. Design protection of Mickey Mouse was not sufficient in the UK; see Anon., “Mickey Mouse in Court.” For a similar comment on the possible existence of a legal gap, see Cabello Lapiedra and Martínez Garcimartín, La Propiedad Industrial en  España, 123.

13. Sherman and Bently, The Making, 162.

14. Ungría, who had been a diplomat, became a member of the Spanish Institute of Trademark and Patent Agents in 1929, see letter Ungría to the President of COAPI, 11 September 1929 in COAPI Archives. His patent and trademark agency was founded in 1891; see ‘Advert’ Diario La Vanguardia, 1 November 1929, 4; see also Ungría, “Ley y Práctica en materia,” 13–31.

15. Power of Attorney from Gea Uberos to Ungría, Valencia, November 1930; File 83, 398; AHOEPM.

16. ‘Obituary’ Diario ABC, 4 August 1972, 74.

17. Vicente Abad notes that the zenith of the Spanish orange exports was 1930; see Abad, Historia de la Naranja, 249.

18. References to agricultural trademarks with a suggestion that they could have been regulated differently can be found in Peraire, La marca de fábrica. Comentarios a la legislación vigente. Jurisprudencia civil y penal 23.

19. Trademark application from Carlos Gea Uberos, 3 December 1930, File 83, 398; AHOEPM.

20. Description of the application; File 83, 398; AHOEPM.

21. See Hudson-Richards, The Orange Proletariat; see also Arroyo, Las etiquetas naranjeras; Mir, “Etiquetas de alimentos. Frutas. Miscelánea” ; EPH/554(1)-EPH/554(18) in BN.

22. On the debate concerning the citrus industry as the main source of Spanish national wealth in the 1930s, see “La calidad de la naranja exportada,” 6; Malboysson, “El maravilloso espectáculo,” 25–27. That oranges conquered the Spanish imaginary is also reflected in novels (Ibañez’ Entre Naranjos) and mascots (the 1982 World Cup mascot organised in Spain, was unsurprisingly, an orange).

23. Sánchez Pérez, La Propiedad Industrial, 233.

24. Twede, “History of Packaging,” 117–119.

25. See revista Gutiérrez, 6 December 1930, 18–19; “Cosas del Cine,” La Vanguardia, 3 January 1931, 14 [“The Star That Interests Us Now is Mickey Mouse”]; “Ecos y Noticias,” La Vanguardia, 1 May 1931, 16; Abad, “The Orange Trademarks,” 126 (these marks had the ‘clear intention of promoting the consumption of these marks among the infant population, offering at the same time the possibility of collecting different scenes of their favourite characters printed on the paper where the oranges were packed up’).

26. Arvidsson, “Brands: A Critical Perspective.”

27. Boletín Oficial de la Propiedad Industrial, X; for some references to the institutional history of trademark law in Spain, see Sáiz and Fernández Pérez, “Catalonian Trademarks.”

28. Estatuto sobre Propiedad Industrial, aprobado por Real Decreto-Ley de 26 de julio de 1929 (Industrial Property Code, approved by Royal-Decree Law, July 1929).

29. Certificate of Registration, 21 February 1931, File 83, 398; AHOEPM.

30. See Ladas, Patents, Trademarks, and Related Rights, 1067.

31. Trademark application from Enrique Dealbert Nebot, File 84,619, AHOEPM, filed 11 March, 1931.

32. Description of the trademark, Enrique Dealbert Nebot, File 84,619 AHOEPM, filed 11 March, 1931.

33. Trademark Application, File 84,619; AHOEPM, filed 11 March, 1931.

34. Certificate of Registration, File 84,619, AHOEPM filed 23 July, 1931. Trademark law requires traders to stipulate a class of goods to which a particular mark will be applied and further tries to prevent a monopoly emerging that could restrict the rights of other traders in that class by allowing for more fine-grained delineations of rights for competing marks.

35. Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse both began their corporate lives with the same New York agent, Jack Warner’s former secretary, Margaret [Mintz] Winkler. See Canemaker, Felix, 89–95.

36. Mother’s Own Book, 61.

37. Caballer, “Enrique Monsonís, un liberal convencido”; Diario El País, 8 October 2011; see also Monsonís, Memorias incompletas and Monsonís “Extrema preocupación.”

38. Lit. J. Aviñó. Valencia, 1930. See also Mir, "Etiquetas de alimentos. Frutas. Miscelánea,” 184 .

39. Abad, “The Orange Trademarks,” 125.

40. De Mantilla, “Las películas de dibujos animados,” 7; Centeno, “Dibujos Sonoros,” 17; Gómez Mesa, Los films de dibujos animados.

41. For a history of these packaging devices, see Karp, “Orange Wrappers,” 119–124. See also some brief comments in Hyman, Oranges. A Global History, 52–53.

42. Comité Regulador de la Industria del Papel, Gaceta de Madrid, 192, 11 July 1930, 272.

43. ‘A new advertising advance was the printing of marks on the silk papers where oranges were packed up; so the advertising of a particular trademark could come sooner to consumers, who could ask for them at their particular fruit shop, if the orange had their quality requirements’ in Abad “The Orange Trademarks,” 125. See also Abad “La publicidad naranjera,” 382.

44. Franck Cochoy has traced the material agency of ‘packaging’; see Cochoy, “A Brief Theory.” See also Pottage, “No (More) Logo.”

45. As Vicente Abad notes, some traders ‘worried about designing their marks according to the tastes of the markets to which they were addressed’ in Abad, “The Orange Trademarks,” 125.

46. Trademarks and labels written in a foreign language were accompanied by the name of the manufacturer and his or her locality as stated in Peraire, La marca de fábrica, 39.

47. Maltin, Of Mice and Magic, 40; as cited in Leslie, Hollywood Flatlands, 32.

48. See for example, Brown, Human Universals; Baker, Picturing the Beast; Levy, “Dreams, Fairy Tales, Animals, and Cars.”

49. Fournier “Consumers and Their Brands,” 344.

50. Mollerup, Marks of Excellence, 128.

51. Jenkins, The Wow Climax, 3.

52. Escobar, “Mickey y Minnie: dos actores internacionales” Diario El Sol, 4 June 1933, 8; “Aniversarios- El del nacimiento de Mickey Mouse” La Vanguardia, 21 October 1933, 10; “El aniversario de Mickey Mouse”, La Vanguardia, 1 December 1934, 15; “Mickey Mouse ha cumplido ya siete años” La Vanguardia, 14 September 1935, 15; “Como se celebrará en el extranjero el aniversario de Mickey Mouse” La Vanguardia, 17 September 1935, 17.

53. ”Introduction” in Craig and Morra-Yoe, The Art of Mickey Mouse, 8.

54. “El Teatro y el Cinema” Ellas, 4 September 1932, 13; “Mickey visita la exposición de Chicago’ La Vanguardia, 30 November 1933, 12; “Quizá la sorpresa más grande que tuve durante el viaje fue al tropezar con Mickey y Minnie en Manchuli. Allí estaban, de tamaño natural y casi como quien dice coleando […]’ La Vanguardia, 11 December 1934, 19; “Mickey demuestra entender en mecánica,” La Voz, 18 December 1934, 7.

55. “Mickey Mouse admira las fallas valencianas” Mundo gráfico, 26 April 1933, 16.

56. Coombe, The Cultural Life, 7.

57. This is rather surprising since it is now commonly accepted that ‘Mickey was created after the Disney Brothers Studio lost the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit,’ in Peterson, “Disney, Walt (1901–1966),” 272; see also Bain and Harris, Mickey Mouse, 12; Maltin, Of Mice and Magic, 34.

58. Tumbusch, Disneyana, 35; Miller, The Dean’s Rag Book Company, 48–53. See also generally Cope and Cope, Dean’s Rag Books.

59. Design Registration Number 750,611, Class 12; BT52/1,435; NA, filed 6 December 1929.

60. Johnson, Ehrbar, and Ghez, Inside the Whimsy Works, 47–48.

61. Kellogg, “History of Sound Motion Pictures,” 356.

62. ‘George Kamen appointed….’ Playthings, July 1933: 60.

63. See Gerstein, “Mickey Mouse Annual”; Ghez, Disney’s Grand Tour, 22; Barrier, The Animated Man, 83.

64. Serafino, “Survey of Patent Pools.”

65. Bellido “King Features Syndicate, Inc. and Betts v O. & M. Kleemann Ltd. (1940),” in Bellido, Landmark Cases.

66. Zipes, “Breaking the Disney Spell.”

67. La Vanguardia, 9 September 1934, 12; Chapman, “Mickey Mouse and Other Things,” 271–272.

68. “El Ratoncito Pérez (Mickey Mouse) se une a los Artistas Asociados” La Vanguardia, 1 May 1931, 16; “Todo el mundo conoce al saladísimo Mickey Mouse, o sea el Ratoncito Pérez” in “Ecos y Noticias” La Vanguardia, 16 June 1931, 19.

69. See, generally Pedrosa, La historia secreta del Ratón Pérez .

70. Fernando G. de Mantilla ‘Las películas de dibujos animados’ El Imparcial, 7 September 1930, 7; Carlos Fernández Cuenca, ‘Las películas de dibujos’ La Época, 15 January 1931, 3; ‘Mickey Mouse admira las fallas valencianas’ Mundo gráfico, 26 April 1933, 16; Bayardi, Ratón Pérez.

71. Description of the trademark, Odeón, SA, File 0,086,388; AHOEPM, Filed 28 July 1931.

72. The film was Fiddlin’ Around. See Maltin, Of Mice and Magic, 345.

73. Power of Attorney from Odeón, SA to Elzaburu, 21 July 1931, File 0086388; AHOEPM; the firm (Elzaburu) was founded in 1865 and was one of the most active members of the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property since the late nineteenth century; see “Asociación Internacional para la Protección de la Propiedad Industrial” Industria é invenciones. 28 May 1898, n. 22, 11; see also de Elzaburu “Comentarios sobre Propiedad Industrial” El Sol, 5 July 1924, 6; Annuaire de l'Association internationale pour la protection de la propriété industrielle 4 (2) 1932: 77.

74. Holliss and Sibley, Mickey Mouse, 23.

75. ”El famosísimo disco Odeón Ratoncito Pérez (Mickey Mouse) lo vende Zato, Peligros, 14” in “Noticias e Informaciones Diversas,” diario ABC, 28 December 1930, 71.

76. ‘Publicity in Practice’ The Bioscope Service Supplement, 7 November 1928, iii; ‘Selling Angles’ The Bioscope, 12 November 1930, 31–33; ‘An ideal set of publicity aids’ The Bioscope, 18 February 1931, xiii; ‘Selling the Picture to the Public. Goodwill and How to Get it’ The Bioscope, 9 August 1929.

77. ‘The principle elements of the Mickey Mouse Club scheme were outlined in a general campaign booklet published in 1930 by the Disney Company. According to the plan, exhibitors would arrange a series of Saturday matinees for children, organizing the audience for these matinees into a club built around the character of Mickey Mouse. … The club programs were not designed simply to appeal to children, but to incorporate as fully as possible the cultural activities within a community’ in deCordova; “The Mickey in Macy’s Window,” 207.

78. See Martínez, “Apuntes para una historia de los tebeos.”

79. Alcacer & Collis, “Walt Disney Company”; Thomas, The Walt Disney Biography, 80; Watts, The Magic Kingdom, 147.

80. La Vanguardia, 3 February 1933, 13.

81. Pellisier, “Making Sales Through Clubs,” 40.

82. For an insightful reference to the first years of merchandising and the changing managerial attitudes developed by Disney, see Gadducci and Tavosanis, Casa Disney, 9–11.

83. As a trade journal noted in the summer of 1930, ‘Mickey Mouse means business’ The Fancy Goods Trader, July 1930, 9; see also “La enorme popularidad del ratón Mickey,” La Vanguardia, 12 May 1933, 16.

84. Brown, Factory of Dreams, 110.

85. Roy Disney as quoted in deCordova, “The Mickey in Macy’s Window,” 205. DeCordova notes ‘the Disney Company was interested in the publicity value of these items as much as the substantial royalties they would generate’.

86. ‘In 1926, Sanchís started up a tin toy company at the castle, naming the firm ‘La Isla.’ ‘I don’t think he had any previous experience in toy manufacture,’ said Wengel. ‘He started in fruit packing and somehow got interested in toys. That’s amazing, because the toys are of such great quality and are so complex,’ in Saunders-Watson, “La Isla Toys,” 20. See also generally ‘Rogelio Sanchís’ Oranges Fruit Crane Label’ in RS.

87. Lobel, “Spanish Dancing Sparklers,” ; Sellés, Juguetes valencianos; Avilés, Informe, 6.

88. Saunders-Watson, “La Isla Toys”; see also Wengel and Wengel, “Origins and Examples,” 36–40.

89. Saunders-Watson, above., 22; Hillier and Shine, Walt Disney’s Mickey, 45 [‘As far as character toy making in Spain is concerned, Rogelio Sanchís is the beginning and the end. He was a genius at designing and producing toys’]. See also Hendeles et al., Partners, 21; Bock, Exhibiting Trauma, 29–31.

90. Contract between Walt Disney Enterprises and Rogelio Sanchís; 6 September 1934 in RS. It is also worth noting that the cheeky incorporation of a caged Felix the Cat, carried by a mouse, in the toy clearly speaks to the supremacy of the newer character on the scene.

91. For an interesting reference to Beneducci’s role in Italy, see Gadducci, Gori, and Lama, Eccetto topolino, 86. Disney distributed Europe into two territories and appointed two representatives. While Beneducci was in charge of Portugal, Spain and Italy, William Banks Levy and then George Kamen, were appointed to manage Disney merchandising in London; see Munsey, Disneyana, 81–85; see also the contract appointing Beneducci as the Disney representative in Southern Europe in ‘Mondadori – 1934–1974, bb. 3’ in AME.

92. On the history of these archives, see Smith, “The Walt Disney Archives.”

93. Wasko goes further to claim that with Disney, ‘synergy’ involves establishing an ‘architecture of merchandising’ in Wasko, Understanding Disney, 159. However, we would argue that in this era the arrangements lacked the degree of solidity or permanence suggested by her structural metaphor.

94. The US Depression era ‘Smoot-Hawley’ Tariff Act 1930 increased tariffs on over 20,000 items, leading to retaliation by America’s trading partners including Spain, who removed most favored nation treatment. See Jones, Tariff Retaliation, 34–67.

95. Forgacs, “Disney Animation,” 366.

96. Trademark Application, File 0,093,620; AHOEPM, filed 17 March, 1933.

97. Trademark Application, File 100,578; AHOEPM, filed 27 September, 1934.

98. Description of Trademark, File 100,578; AHOEPM, filed 27 September, 1934.

99. Trademark Certificate, File 100,578; AHOEPM, filed 14 January, 1935.

100. Instancia de Renuncia, File 0,093,620; AHOEPM, filed 9 July, 1935.

101. Instancia de renuncia, File 100,578; AHOEPM, filed 1 February, 1935.

102. Huertas “Mickey y sus 55.000 amigos” El Periódico de Catalunya, 15 November 1998, 41.

103. Berle and Sprague de Camp, Inventions and their Management, 563–564.

104. Gaines described Mickey as a ‘merchandising legend’ in Gaines, Contested Culture, 158.

105. For a wonderful history of early Disney marketing in the US, see deCordova, “The Mickey in Macy’s Window,” 203–213.

106. “Una careta de Mickey Mouse o Minnie Mouse la obtendrá gratis con cada tubo que adquiera de crema dentífrica Listerine (con la autorización de Walt Disney-Mickey Mouse Ltd)” La Vanguardia, 28 December 1933, 6; ‘Ya hay de nuevo caretas’ La Vanguardia, 24 April 1934, 2; ‘Ya hay de nuevo caretas’ La Vanguardia, 22 May 1934, 7.

107. For a history of the company, see Watson, The Waddingtons Story.

108. As Evalyn Grumbine noted ‘millions of paper masks of comic and screen stars were used as juvenile premiums. … In Great Britain Listerine tooth paste used masks of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Sales were doubled almost overnight. It is reported that more than 10 million masks were distributed in England alone during a period of two months’ in Grumbine, Reaching Juvenile Markets, 87.

109. ‘Masks of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse can be obtained from any chemist by purchasing a tube of Listerine Tooth Paste’ The Teesdale Mercury, 8 November 1933, 14.

110. ‘For the Kiddies, while they last! Free! Mickey Mouse or Minnie Mouse- Party mask with every 1/3 tube of Listerine Tooth Paste’ The Argus, 12 February 1934, 14.

111. ‘Kiddies delighted with Mickey or Minnie Mouse Paper Masks – free with every 1/3d tube of Listerine Tooth Paste’ Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, 22 May 1934, 2.

112. For an interesting study of similar strategies, see Robinson, “Marketing Gum,” 4–44.

113. ‘The advertising multinationals began arriving in Spain in the 1920s, among them Publicitas, Germany’s Rudolf Mosse, Britain’s Crawford, France’s Havas, and from the United States, the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) …’ in Pérez-Latre, “Spain,” 1464.

114. Bravo, Walter Thompson España.

115. Trademark Selection: The Management Team Method.

116. Bellido, “Toward a History.”

117. Trademark Application, File 0,102,173; AHOEPM, filed 14 February, 1935.

118. Moreno Lázaro, “La dulce transformación,” 205–248 and Moreno Lázaro, “Tecnología, empresa y mercado,” 15–35; Monroig, “La industria,” 3.

119. Letter from Pierre de Beneducci, Representante Exclusivo en España, Italia y Portugal, 24 January 1935; File 0,102,173; AHOEPM.

120. Ibid.

121. Estatuto sobre Propiedad Industrial, aprobado por Real Decreto-Ley de 26 de julio de 1929 (Industrial Property Code, approved by Royal-Decree Law, July 1929).

122. Instancia de Renuncia. 9 July 1935; File 0,093,620; AHOEPM.

123. Munsey, Disneyana, 113.

124. The first issue of the merchandising catalogue was arranged by Disney’s merchandising director Kay Kamen; see Mosley, The Real Walt Disney, 148–150; Bain and Harris, Mickey Mouse, 150; Beezy, “Good Marksmanship,” 22; Thomas, The Walt Disney Biography, 81–82; Munsey, Disneyana, 107–126; Hollis, Toons in Toyland, 11.

125. “Mickey Mouse Looks Forward to 1936” Playthings, February 1936, 56.

126. “Jabón y Pasta dentífrica Mickey Mouse- Con la Autorización de Walt Disney,” La Vanguardia, 5 November 1935, 5; ‘Soon kids all over the world were clamouring for Mickey Mouse toothbrushes, drinking glasses, combs, trains, watches, and an incredible assortment of toys and figurines that would number in the hundreds by 1935 and the thousands by 1960’ in Bain and Harris, Mickey Mouse, 15.

127. Papeles Wipa (Barcelona) was one of the licensees that began producing Mickey fountain pens and other stationary material with the film star.

128. Though discussed in relation to a later period, Henry Jenkins describes affective economics as a discourse that ‘emphasizes the emotional commitments consumers make in brands as a central motivation for their purchasing decisions’, Jenkins, Convergence Culture, 319.

129. Grumbine, Reaching Juvenile Markets, 87–88.

130. Bourdieu, Distinction, 328–329.

131. Similar trademark struggles were soon after experienced by Disney in Australia where Disney was more successful, the significance of which was noted in the USA; see Radio Corporation Pty Ltd v Disney (‘Mickey Mouse case’) (1937) 57 CLR 448; see also George G. Turri, ‘Mickey Mouse in Australian High Court’; “Mickey Mouse’s Rights are argued in Australia,” New York Times, 30 April 1936, 16.

132. Trademark Application, File 98,076; AHOEPM, filed 10 March, 1934.

133. Trademark Opposition, File 98,076; AHOEPM filed 15 June, 1934. Walt and Roy Disney and their wives did tour the Continent for two months in 1935. See Ghez, Disney’s Grand Tour.

134. Response by Geis Bosch, 4 September 1934; File 98,076; AHOEPM.

135. For a discussion of US–Spanish copyright relations, see Bellido, Xalabarder, and Casas Vallès, ‘Commentary on US–Spanish Peace Treaty.”

136. Trademark Opposition Decision, File 98,076; AHOEPM filed 16 March, 1935.

137. Trademark Application, File 101,116; AHOEPM, filed 22 November, 1934.

138. Opposition to the Trademark application, File 101,116; AHOEPM, filed 14 February, 1935.

139. Appendix: US Copyright Certificate Entry Class G. No. 6,499 (Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse) File 101,116; AHOEPM, filed 1 June, 1931.

140. Trademark Application, File 101,717; AHOEPM, filed 22 December, 1934.

141. Response to the Opposition, File 101,116; AHOEPM, filed 28 February, 1935.

142. Power of attorney from Manuel de la Osa to Luis María de Zunzunegui, File 101,116; AHOEPM, filed 22 February, 1935.

143. Trademark Opposition Decision, File 101,116; AHOEPM, filed 13 March, 1935.

144. Surely one of the aspects that made licensing arrangements attractive and successful was the infrastructural support given by Disney to its licensees. For instance, as Heide and Gilman observe, ‘design and artwork was supplied free of charge to licensees …,’ in Heide and Gilman, Disneyana., 43.

145. Trademark Application, 4 December 1934, File 101.449; AHOEPM, filed 4 December, 1934.

146. Letter from Vecchi to Pierre Beneducci (Disney agent), 12 February 1935, File 101.449; AHOEPM. Some references to Vecchi in Spain can be read in Sanchis, Franco contra Flash Gordon, 60–61. See also Martín, Historia del comic español: 1875–1939, 118–133.

147. Opposition to Trademark Application, File 101.449, filed 26 Februrary, 1935; AHOEPM; Renuncia al Registro, File 101.449; AHOEPM, filed 14 March, 1935.

148. Design Application, File 482, AHOEPM, filed 15 February, 1935.

149. When tested in court, the UK design registration held by the British toy maker, Deans Rag Book Co, ultimately provided little protection for Mickey for similar reasons to those raised in the Spanish opposition; see Deans Rag Book Company Limited v Pomerantz and Sons (1930) 47 RPC 485; The Times, 18 July 1930, 5; The Times, 19 July 1930, 4; The Times, 23 July 1930, 5.

150. Opposition to Design Application, (Don Emilio Urquizo y Falcó), filed 15 May, 1935; and opposition to Design application, (Francisco Tribó Capdevila), File 482, AHOEPM, filed 1 June, 1935.

151. Following difficulties with industrial property rights, a global strategy of linking licensing with copyright is confirmed in the 1940s by a letter written by Gunther Lessing, Disney's legal counsel, to Art Arthur, Motion Picture Industry Council. He wrote: ‘the patent lawyers told us that it “couldn’t be done” as such licenses as we contemplated would put our trademarks in the public domain. Roy Disney and I decided that there was money to be derived from this endeavour so we based it on the copyright laws and the laws of unfair competition’; Lessing to Arthur, November 18, 1949; AMPAS.