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God & the Stormtroopers

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10 July 2009 / Jane Foulser McFarlane
Issue: 7377 / Categories: Features , Public
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Jane Foulser McFarlane assesses how far toys can be used for role play without breaching copyright

A German pastor intent on educating children about the Easter story, via his website, has been accused of violating the copyright in plastic Playmobil figures, by gluing breasts onto a model to depict “Eve” and by melting the hands of another model with a hairdryer, to allow it to depict Christ on the crucifix. The pastor was told to dismantle the figures by the company, Playmobil, which accused him of a deliberate and creative adaptation of its toys.

The plight of the pastor from Hesse was highlighted in an article in the Daily Telegraph in April, and is an example of how an innocuous adaptation of a toy figure can breach the provisions of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988). The pastor had published his creations on his website for educational purposes, as opposed to commercial gain, but was he actually in breach of Playmobil’s copyright under UK law?

The German toy manufacturer

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