Star Trek Makeup and Emblems

Dear Rich: I wanted to get your advice on Star Trek costumes and Star Trek character makeup designs: Klingons, Vulcan's etc... I understand movie and television costumes are not protected under copyright law, but are the chevrons or emblems on the costumes protected under copyright or trademark laws? I have just completed an abstract comedy that involves actors from those Star Trek series. The actors play themselves not the characters they played in the series, but some extras or other actors who were not in the series will be wearing Star Trek uniforms in the movie at Sci-Fi conventions for example. Also, some actors and extras in the screenplay are wearing Klingon, Vulcan and other Star Trek species makeup from the Star Trek universe. Are the makeup design for those alien characters protected by copyright? Can CBS, Paramount or makeup artist sue because of such close resemblance? Or is makeup design similar to costume design? If they could sue me, would slightly altering these creature makeup designs negate copyright infringement? We've addressed the issues of copyright and theatrical costumes in a previous entry. As we noted there, the concern may be more about trademark infringement -- that the owners of Star Trek somehow endorse or are associated with your screenplay. This would also be the case for makeup and Star Trek emblems (although an argument might be made that creative makeup designs, like creative tattoos, deserve copyright protection). We can't predict whether CBS/Paramount Network television will see or care about your use, or whether they want to risk the wrath of fans by going after you. In any case, it appears as if your screenplay is within the parody/commentary universe which -- along with a prominent disclaimer -- may provide a strong defense for you on trademark and copyright claims (as it does for this film). In fact, you may wish to check out the DVD extras for Escape from Tomorrow for an interview on the subject with one of our favorite permissions authors.

Wants to Entertain at Parties as Mickey Mouse

Dear Rich:Could you please advise on the use of trademarked character costumes, Such as Micky & Minnie Mouse, We are from the UK, We have been thinking of buying one to use at children's parties at a cost to the party organisers, But we are unsure if we need to ask permission and if we need to be CRB checked. A lot has happened since we last addressed this issue in 2008. For one thing, Minnie, Goofy, and Daisy (left) appear to have undergone drastic (and controversial) weight loss regimens. 
First Sale. Once you buy a Disney licensed character costume, you're free to do a lot of things with it. For example, under the first sale doctrine (which applies under copyright and trademark laws), you can wear your costume around the house or in public, burn it as part of an anti-Disney protest, or resell it. 
Disney's rights. However, Disney retains rights over how a proprietary character is commercially exploited. (And BTW, Disney also goes after those who buy and sell unauthorized character costumes.) Sometimes enforcement may seem heavy-handed. That's because companies like Disney view public exploitation -- whether in movies, on a nightclub stage, or entertaining for money at  a children's party -- as a violation of their character rights. On the other hand, party-entertainment is a growth industry  and the possibility of legal action hasn't deterred some character-based businesses that operate under the radar. In other cases, the owner of a licensed character may provide a way to license rights (so you might want to check with Disney UK). (Note, our answers apply in the U.S. only. Despite the similarity of U.S. and U.K. copyright and trademark laws, we can't say for sure whether all principles apply across the Atlantic.)