Disney is continuing to uphold its reputation as a company hellbent on going after anyone other than itself that may profit from its characters.
The company has a tendency to go after artists who use Disney character likenesses in their art. The latest example of this behavior involves the adorable viral character known as “Baby Yoda” from Disney’s “The Mandalorian.” First, some clarification, the character is not actually Yoda, as the series takes place long after Yoda was born, but it is a juvenile of the same species, which isn’t named in Star Wars lore.
Disney is now targeting Etsy, a website for artists to sell handmade or vintage items. Creators have been going crazy for Baby Yoda, producing everything from crocheted dolls to T-shirts to coffee mugs to car air fresheners (it comes in multiple, non-Baby Yoda associated scents, like Pina Colada).
But Disney hates when someone else makes money off of their characters. The New York Post reported that the megacompany is “cracking down” on Etsy for the Star Wars-inspired creations. The Verge reported that Disney appears to be focusing on the most popular Baby Yoda-inspired products.
“Several Etsy sellers tell The Verge they have had their listings removed, cutting off popular products and disrupting existing sales,” the outlet reported. “One seller, Tanya, who runs the stuffed animal storefront YourStuffedMemories, had been selling homemade Baby Yoda plushies for about a month when she received a message from Etsy. It had deactivated her sales listing after getting a complaint from Disney over her usage of the words ‘Star Wars,’ ‘mandalorian,’ and ‘Yoda’ to sell the plushies.”
More from The Verge:
Another seller, Kate, had a listing for a Baby Yoda-style dice bag at her HedgeCrafts store removed by Etsy for similar reasons, as did the 1OOAcreWoodshop storefront, which sells knit wool plushies of the character. Most of the stores that The Verge talked to had takedowns issued in the last week.
The original listings for these stores were extremely popular: one Yoda doll had “over 2,000 views and 300 favorites,” while another seller said that she used to see at least 100 to 200 views a day. Removing the listings also caused issues with existing orders for at least one seller, delaying shipments as they tried to reconcile orders in Etsy’s system between the old and new listings. (My own order for a Baby Yoda from YourStuffedMemories was among those delayed.)
The outlet added that the crackdown has occurred since Disney finally started selling its own Baby Yoda products, even though none of those products are actually currently available.
Disney, whose obviously known for their massive merchandise catalogue, was slow to provide Baby Yoda products after the episodes aired and the adorably little creature went viral, as if the company didn’t foresee the popularity.
“It’s a difficult situation for sellers. Baby Yoda (like the terms ‘Star Wars,’ ‘The Mandalorian,’ and ‘Yoda’) is owned by Disney, and the company has the legal right to enforce its intellectual property and prevent others from profiting off its work,” the Verge reported. “But fans have been eager for products Disney isn’t offering, and sellers’ handmade toys can deliver a burst of new customers to Etsy shops that typically sell much lower-profile goods, like stuffed unicorns and wall decorations.”