Etsy users are getting around Disney's Baby Yoda crackdown by selling "Baby Alien" items

Bloomberg Law

A search for "Baby Alien" on Etsy turns up more than 1,500 products that look like the Star Wars: The Mandalorian character. But does avoiding the use of the "Baby Yoda" name clear the sellers of copyright infringement? A visual depiction of the character labeled “Baby Alien” likely infringes Disney’s copyright, says University of New Hampshire intellectual property professor Ann Bartow, adding that copyright law bars unlicensed use of derivatives of creations, and case law has extended that to characters. But she questions whether the dolls met specific requirements of being derivative or whether items like crocheted dolls might qualify as fair use. “Such overkill. Such painful overkill,” Bartow says. “I just wish Disney would back off a little and let the crafters breathe.” ALSO: Oscar Isaac jokes he wanted to kill Baby Yoda.