Disney No Longer Has Rights to Scrat from Ice Age
Scrat, the well-known mischievous squirrel from the Ice Age franchise, caused chaos behind the scenes, as well. Apparently, Disney no longer has rights to Scrat due to a trademark dispute.
Ice Age premiered on March 2, 2002, and (since) several individuals claimed ownership of Scrat. However, Ivy Silberstein had the strongest argument.
The Idea Behind Scrat
Accordingly, Silberstein imagined her character (Sqrat) after seeing a squirrel/rat hybrid while visiting a park. Therefore, she created and presented Sqrat to Blue Sky in 1999.
Blue Sky is the studio behind Ice Age. And so, Silberstein filed a lawsuit against Twentieth Century Fox in 2002 for copyright infringement.
The Battle for Scrat
In 2003, a judge ruled that Ivy Silberstein and Twentieth Century Fox had equal ownership rights to Scrat. Then, Silberstein began an effort to regain full ownership of Scrat, and it continued until this year.
Disney purchased Twentieth Century Fox on March 20, 2019. After the acquisition of Twentieth Century Fox, Disney met with Silberstein to reach an agreement over Scrat’s rights.
Indeed, she held her ground and obtained the rights to her character. Blue Sky backed down on January 28, 2022, after nearly two decades.
A Win for Many
Finally, Ivy Silberstein owns her character, and Disney no longer has rights to Scrat. Silberstein posted on Twitter, “No Scrat in Ice Age 6. Thank you, Disney, for respecting my trademarks and Sqrat which I created on May 19, 1999. It’s been 20 years since March 2, 2002 — the premiere date of the first film. It has been a struggle! I won!”
Surely, many writers and artists face off with large corporations for the rights to their ideas. This win is not just for Ivy Silberstein, but for those facing the same situations.
Article Information and Featured Image: www.thegamer.com
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Is this much of a surprise if she didn’t file trademark till later