PARIS, March 12 (UPI) -- A Parisian judge ruled in favor of The Walt Disney Co. Friday in legal action brought by the author of a French book about a fictional clownfish.
Disney's 2003 animated blockbuster "Finding Nemo," is about a clownfish trying to rescue his son from a dentist-office aquarium.
Judge Louis-Marie Raingeard de la Bletiere refused a request for an injunction that would have barred Disney from selling books and merchandise related to "Finding Nemo" in France, Forbes said.
The judge said the Disney character and the French clownfish, named Pierrot, weren't similar enough to justify pulling "Nemo" merchandise off the shelves, the magazine reported.
A civil trial remains on the docket for the fall, however, the court decision is seen as a blow to the case of Franck Le Calvez, the author of the book, "Pierrot le Poisson Clown," Forbes noted.
Le Calvez and his lawyers claimed several bookstores refused to carry his book after "Finding Nemo" came out in France, worried that Pierrot might be a copycat. Le Calvez insists Disney stole the idea from him.
