A Naples court summoned Donald and Daisy Duck, Mickey Mouse and Tweety Bird
to appear as witnesses in a criminal trial, but they can't come because they
live in Disneyland.
In what lawyers believe was a clerical error, the cartoon characters were
listed as witnesses in the trial of a man accused of counterfeiting Disney and
Warner Bros. products.
The court summons cites "Titty, Paperino, Paperina, Topolino"¡ªthe Italian
names for the characters¡ªas damaged parties in the trial.
Instead of naming just the companies and their legal representatives, clerks
also wrote in the witness list the names of the cartoons that decorated the toys
and gadgets the man had allegedly reproduced, said Fiorenza Sorotto, vice
president of Disney Company Italia.
"Unfortunately they cannot show up, as they are residents of Disneyland,"
Sorotto joked in a telephone interview. "It certainly pleased us that the
characters were considered real, because that's what we try to do."
The Naples court will have to rewrite the summons, though this will probably
delay the trial, said Disney lawyer Cristina Ravelli.
"Let's hope the characters will not be prosecuted for failing to appear,"
Ravelli quipped.