Disney profile pictures. The silent protest against the inflammatory images on Facebook

At the moment there is a silent protest that is targeting all the inflammatory images. This is described with the words: “I intend to fill Facebook with comic heroes to fight the saturation of negative images and videos. Give me a 'LIKE' and I will assign you a character too..."

This campaign already took place on Facebook in April 2014. We reported here at the time: “ Disney pictures on Facebook! Attention-Copyright Violation” The idea behind using such images to suppress “NEGATIVE status posts” may be a good one, but ATTENTION. All cartoon characters are protected by copyright and may not be published on the Internet the permission of the author

As far as copyright law is concerned, not much has changed from 2014 to 2015.

What does “Disney” actually say about this? “Disney” gave the following answer to a user query in 2014:

Hi,…. This campaign was not initiated by us, which means that we have not approved the images for use.

All cartoon characters are protected by copyright and may not be published on the Internet the permission of the author

It is not relevant whether:

• The image as a whole or whether only a SMALL SECTION can be seen here.
• The image was scanned or photographed from comic books.
• The image was copied from a film.
• The image was found using Google image search or whether
• The picture itself was drawn after...

Already in 2010 there were warnings about the topic: “Comic and cartoon heroes” as a Facebook profile picture.

Attorney Karsten Gulden from https://ggr-law.com/ already wrote at the time:

The rights holder is entitled to use these protected figures without reservation.
It doesn't matter what size the image is. Anyone who uses such an image as a profile picture on their Facebook page or any other social network can commit a copyright violation according to Section 19a of the Copyright Act. Fault is not important here.
Ignorance does not protect against punishment. It doesn't matter that Facebook called for it. Every profile owner is responsible for his own actions! It is therefore strongly advisable not to use images of comic characters or celebrities in your own profile, as their use usually represents a legal violation that can be prevented for a fee.
Reference: https://ggr-law.com/urheberrecht/faq/comicbilder-als-profilbild-bei-facebook.html

A notice! We contacted Disney on September 24, 2015. We will receive a comprehensive response and will publish it in this report as soon as we receive it!