Posted on 12/04/2007 2:05:04 PM PST by NormsRevenge
ROME - Tweety may get a chance to take the witness stand and sing like a canary. An Italian court ordered the animated bird, along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy, to testify in a counterfeiting case.
In what lawyers believe was a clerical error worthy of a Looney Tunes cartoon, a court in Naples sent a summons to the characters ordering them to appear Friday in a trial in the southern Italian city, officials said.
The court summons cites Titti, Paperino, Paperina, Topolino — the Italian names for the characters — as damaged parties in the criminal trial of a Chinese man accused of counterfeiting products of Disney and Warner Bros.
Instead of naming only 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 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 with The Associated Press. "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, although 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.
Calls seeking comment from Warner Bros. in Milan were not immediately returned. Phones at the Naples court were not answered Tuesday.
In this photo released by Disney World, singer Jessica Simpson poses with Goofy, Mickey and Donald in front of Cinderella Castle at Disney World on Friday, Nov. 30, 2007, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Simpson was on hand to tape the finale performance for the 24th annual 'Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade,' which is scheduled to air Dec. 25, 2007. (AP Photo/Disney World, David Roark)
A Walt Disney character Donald Duck poses for a photo during a ceremony honoring the famous Disney cartoon character with the 2,257th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, in this Monday, Aug. 9, 2004 file photo. An Italian court ordered the animated characters Tweety Bird, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy to take witness stand in a counterfeiting case, in Naples, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007. In what lawyers believe was a clerical error worthy of a Looney Tunes cartoon, a court in Naples included the cartoon characters as damaged parties in the trial of a Chinese man accused of counterfeiting products of Disney and Warner Bros. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
The costume of Tweety Bird greets the visitors during the presentation of the new Warner Bros. theme park to the press in San Martin de la Vega, 25 km, 15 miles, from Madrid, Spain, in this Friday, April 5, 2002 file photo. An Italian court ordered the animated characters Tweety Bird, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy to take witness stand in a counterfeiting case, in Naples, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007. ...(AP Photo/EFE, J.J. Guillen)
I’d love to see Pepe le Pew testify.
You always bring us the greatest and most important news.
just feeding the FR grist mill ;-)
Why is it that Donald Duck can freely wander around Disneyworld without pants, but security has problems when I do?
AMEN
Daffy would be an awesome lawyer...
You heard that Micky and Minnie are getting a divorce? Yep, its true.....when Micky was asked why, he said she was f—ing goofy......
I suspect that the
Mothers
And
Fathers
Italian
Assocation
has a black hand in this!
"I taut-a I taw a puddi-tatto..."
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