PARIS--The French author of a children's book is suing Disney for using what he says were characters similar to ones he created in its hugely successful animated film "Finding Nemo," his lawyer said Wednesday.
Franck Le Calvez claims the hero of the US movie, a clown fish named Nemo, looks very much like the main character in his book "Pierrot le poisson-clown" (Pierrot the Clown Fish), which came out at the end of 2002 and whose outline was lodged with a French authors' copyright association in 1995, his lawyer, Pascal Kamina, said.
"We have also found the same supporting characters, such as a surgeon fish and a cleaner shrimp," Kamina said, adding: "The similarities are sufficiently troubling for us to ask for an explanation from Disney."
If no response if forthcoming, Le Calvez intends to pursue the lawsuit. He has already requested that Disney stop selling any Nemo merchandise which looks like the trademarked image of Pierrot -- "a 3-D clown fish seen in three-quarter profile, smiling, with one fin raised," the lawyer said.
The French author, who has long been interested in aquariums and their inhabitants, financed the publication of 2,000 prints of his book himself.
According to his lawyer, he believes that many bookstores are now refusing to stock it because of fears of legal action from Disney over "Finding Nemo."
The movie, made by the computer animation studio Pixar, was one of this year's biggest box office hits. According to the US trade magazine Variety, it has raked in more than 670 million dollars (540 million euros) worldwide.
Franck Le Calvez claims the hero of the US movie, a clown fish named Nemo, looks very much like the main character in his book "Pierrot le poisson-clown" (Pierrot the Clown Fish), which came out at the end of 2002 and whose outline was lodged with a French authors' copyright association in 1995, his lawyer, Pascal Kamina, said.
"We have also found the same supporting characters, such as a surgeon fish and a cleaner shrimp," Kamina said, adding: "The similarities are sufficiently troubling for us to ask for an explanation from Disney."
If no response if forthcoming, Le Calvez intends to pursue the lawsuit. He has already requested that Disney stop selling any Nemo merchandise which looks like the trademarked image of Pierrot -- "a 3-D clown fish seen in three-quarter profile, smiling, with one fin raised," the lawyer said.
The French author, who has long been interested in aquariums and their inhabitants, financed the publication of 2,000 prints of his book himself.
According to his lawyer, he believes that many bookstores are now refusing to stock it because of fears of legal action from Disney over "Finding Nemo."
The movie, made by the computer animation studio Pixar, was one of this year's biggest box office hits. According to the US trade magazine Variety, it has raked in more than 670 million dollars (540 million euros) worldwide.
