Yesterday, the LA Times ran an article on a copyright crackdown on makers of piñatas, or piñateros (Got a License for the Pinata?).

Disney and the other companies, in what experts said was an understandable move to protect their popular cartoon and character properties, filed copyright and trademark infringement lawsuits against Santoyo and another nearby shop owner for allegedly selling the counterfeit pinatas.

But far from thinking that these executives are compelled to make such a decision, I think it's absurd to have filed them.  See for yourself: two examples of these complaints are here (Viacom v. El Cora Produce) and here (Viacom v. Saavedra's Produce). These huge entertainment companies using their muscle to stop people from making pinatas of their characters that are the star of the show at a five year old's birthday?  One of the claims is "unfair competition."  There's obviously a legal meaning of that term.  It's certainly an unfair fight between a storefront business with margins at or near zero v. the likes of Viacom -- but not in the direction that the complaints allege.  There has got to be a better way to handle these disputes than these lawsuits. [links in original]

My family never used the licensed piñatas, we stuck with the traditional sort (stars, horses, snowmen for Christmas). However, I still look at the piñatas to see what is popular with the kids. Of course the blockbuster movies are always, but you could tell how popular a movie really is by how long its piñatas continued to be sold. Nowadays you also see videogame piñatas, and the occasional fairly obscure cartoon character as well. It is too bad that Hollywood can't see to license, cheaply and easily, these characters, which would serve more as a marketing device than anything else.