Petition Seeks ITC Ban on Disney Imports of Kids' TV Show

Emir Tiar and Radcliffe, LLC filed a petition with the International Trade Commission June 7 requesting a Section 337 investigation into whether imports of a children’s television show shown on the Disney Channel violate their copyrights. The allegedly infringing product is “Mr. Young.”. The program, which is produced and filmed in Vancouver, Canada, is a comedy about a student who becomes the teacher of his class. Tiar alleges that “Mr. Young” violates a copyright he holds on a pilot for a television show he wrote called “Student Teacher.” Rights to that show are currently held by Radcliffe. The infringing show is currently being produced in Canada by Thunderbird, and imported to the U.S. from Canada and aired by Disney Channel. Tiar and Radcliffe also allege violations of Section 337 by Canadian company Mindset. They request exclusion and cease and desist orders against the respondents, as well as exclusion of infringing goods during the investigation.