McDonalds v. H.R. Pufnstuf

Summary of Case

Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions, Inc. v. McDonald's Corp., 562 F.2d 1157, decided by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1977

• Sid and Marty Kroft, two brothers, created a popular children's television show, H.R.Pufnstuf
• The Kroft brothers were contacted by Harper and Steers, Inc., an advertising firm that wanted to create an account with McDonalds
• Harper and Steers, Inc. wanted to create McDonaldland and asked the Kroft brothers if they could use the Pufnstuf characters and adapt them for McDonaldland
• Harper and Steers, Inc. told the Kroft brothers that they would receive money for the use of their characters but were later informed that the McDonaldland ad campaign had been cancelled
• When McDonaldland commercials featuring the Pufnstuf characters started to appear, the Kroft brothers sued McDonalds

Issues of Case

• McDonald's hoped the Kroffts would license its characters for commercial promotions, but they declined so McDonaldland was created anyway
• It purposely was taken from the H.R. Pufnstuf show in an attempt to get the same appeal
• The Kroffts sued McDonald's by arguing that the McDonaldland idea was completely taken from their television show
• Later, a federal appeals court stated that previous Kroffts employees were hired to design and create the McDonaldland sets and costumes
• Additionally, the same voice expert for H.R. Pufnstuf helped create McDonaldland character voices similar to the Kroffts'
• The characters are played by puppets or costumed performers, very much like the H.R. Pufnstuf television program
• More specifically, they claimed that Mayor McCheese from McDonaldland was a direct copy from their character H.R. Pufnstuf, who is also a mayor

Outcome of the Case

• McDonaldland characters were found to have infringed on Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions, Inc.'s copyright of the show
• The court stated that no ordinary person, let alone a child, would notice any contrast between Mayor McCheese's diplomatic sash and Pufnstuf's cummerbund
• McDonald's was ultimately ordered to pay the Kroffts more than $1 million in damages when the case was finally settled in 1977
• The magical place of McDonaldland was brought to an end
• Many of the characters were phased out from the commercials
• Ronald McDonald, Grimace, Hamburglar, and the French Fry Gobblins were the only characters to remain after the lawsuit

In our opinion, the court made the correct decision. McDonald's did not compensate Sid and Kroft for their Pufnstuf characters. Although, the Kroft brothers gave McDonald's permission to use their characters, the brothers thought they would be getting some kind of monetary gain. When McDonald's failed to pay the Kroft brothers, I believe the brothers acted wisely by suing the McDonald's corporation

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's_legal_cases

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonaldland

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.R._Pufnstuf

www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1343/was-mcdonaldland-plagiarized-from-the-old-h-r-pufnstuf-kids-tv-show

www.legalminute.blogspot.com/2010/03/hr-pufnstuf-vs-mcdonalds.html

www.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HRPufnstuf

www.coolcopyright.com/cases/chp5/kroftmcdonalds.htm

McDonalds v.

H.R. Pufnstuf

Mayor

McCheese

Pufnstuf

www.ratherchildish.tumblr.com/post/845621134/geekleetist-via-younggirlblues-mayor

www.shenmuedojo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=859159

Opinion of the Case

Created by Cameron Weeks and

Kelsey-Anne LeBlanc

After the Lawsuit

Before the Lawsuit

http://itsjustnc.blogspot.com/2009/01/mcdonald-character-expos.html

http://bigdigital.blogspot.com/2005_11_01_archive.html