Is Disney really a Media Tyrant? Or Are People Overreacting? [OPINION]

Star Wars fans, they’ve been divided since the release of The Force Awakens. With the arrival of the Disney+ original, The Mandalorian, Baby Yoda seemed like the thing to unite the fan base, until Disney got involved.
Star Wars fans are crazy about, well, Star Wars. They care deeply about the characters and how the films are treated. The original trilogy is adored overall, the prequel trilogy is for the most part disliked, and the current sequel trilogy, well, it’s the most divided trilogy of the Star Wars saga. Fans either really love it or really hate it. The last film, The Last Jedi, is probably the film within the Star Wars universe that is split down the middle in terms of love and hate.

Over the last few weeks however, the Star Wars fans came together and showed their appreciation for one small thing. As you may know by now, Disney+ is in full swing with original content, and their endless catalog of films and TV shows. Among their original content is the series, The Mandalorian, which sees the bounty hunter retrieving the child, or better known online as, Baby Yoda. Baby Yoda is the newest member among the cute characters the Star Wars franchise has given us over the years. It’s here where the recent divide among Star Wars fans ended temporarily.

Fans online began expressing their love for the new character, and creating gifs and memes out of the 50-year-old baby. Enter one of the media juggernauts, Walt Disney. After the popularization of Baby Yoda on social media, Disney began a crackdown on taking down any gifs or memes relating to the infant. This is a bad move on Disney’s part, because not only is it free advertisement for the company about their NEW show, which will bring in new subscribers to their NEW streaming service, but it also sucks the fun out for the fans. Star Wars fans have been divided for a few years now and when they finally have something they agree upon, here comes Disney and sucks the fun out of it.

As a fan, I hate that Disney is doing this and from the looks of it, the take downs have seemed to stop. Fans have a right to use material from intellectual properties if they’re creating something new with it, and that’s what fans have been doing. Fans have been taking clips from the series and editing it into something new. I’ve seen still images of Baby Yoda that have also been transformed. This sort of transformation is protected by the fair use law, which allows copyrighted items to be used without the permission of the owner.There is one other rumor that GIPHY, the gif database, removed the content themselves. It’s thought that they did this out of fear that Disney would come around and file a fat ol’ lawsuit on them. Trust me, no one wants a Disney lawsuit. Disney sure does make content that puts smiles on many families across the world. When one thinks of Disney, they think of happiness. Business wise however, Disney instills fear into many corporations, and people. Critics often argue how Disney is an evil monopoly that wants to control the media industry, and often times I want to defend their actions. This however, makes me rethink my stance on how Disney handles these kinds of situations.

This infringement on something that is protected under law, and being attacked by Disney is disappointing. They should want their viewers to enjoy the content they put out. By making gifs and memes out of Baby Yoda, the fans are spreading the word on how great the content is, which will make non-subscribers curious as to what they’re missing out on. Disney should see this as free marketing for them, and let the viewers enjoy their fun with their shows and let them express their satisfaction, or dissatisfaction with their shows however we please.