Do you remember the Steve Jobs action figure that was so life-like it was creepy? It appears the model may never see the light of day because of Apple’s proactive legal team. According to a report in the Telegraph, Apple is threatening to sue InIcons, the company that created and marketed the figurine. Apple supposedly sent a letter to the company that said it’s illegal to use a company’s logo, a person’s name or his or her likeness without consent.
InIcons has been taking pre-orders for the action figure and expected to ship it sometime next month. InIcons hasn’t said what it would do, but comments from InIcons’ Tony Cheung suggest the company isn’t going to step down. Cheung recently spoke to ABC News and said:
“Apple can do anything they like. I will not stop, we already started production.”
Cheung also says his legal team advised him his figurine is in compliance with the law because it’s not sold with any replica Apple products. As for Jobs’ likeness? Cheung says Jobs is “not an actor, he’s just a celebrity. There is no copyright protection for a normal person.” He further argues that “Steve Jobs is not a product…so I don’t think Apple has the copyright of him.”
InIcons is not the first company to create a Steve Jobs action figure. MIC Gadget produced a life-like action figure last year, but it was shut down by Apple’s legal team.
[Via MSNBC and ABC News]
Apple moves to ban Steve Jobs action figure originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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