Deadmau5 Tries To Cancel ‘Deadmouse: the Musical’

Deadmouse: the Musical

Courtney Love was not the only one sending cease or desist letters this week, Deadmau5 has done the exact same thing! He is targeting ‘Deadmouse: the Musical’, which is described as a ‘comedy about a mouse who aspires to be a house DJ but is discriminated against for being a mouse’… That’s hilarious, it’s obviously inspired by the famous DJ (the mouse’s name is Joel Zimmermouse while Deadmau5’s real name is Joel Zimmerman) and I don’t see how this could be a problem? Here is more about the plot: ‘Joel Zimmermouse must team up with his best friend David Goudda and his flame, Cat, to overcome species discrimination and the mouse hating House DJ Avicheese.’ This seems hilarious and harmless, even a homage to the DJ culture, but of course Deadmau5 has not been involved and doesn’t touch a penny from it, so I suppose this is what makes him so furious. What a prick!

The musical is supposed to be performed for the first time at the Toronto Fringe Festival in July but it looks like they may encounter a few difficulties because Deadhau5 has no sense of humor: ‘Zimmerman’s trademarks are some of his most valuable assets,’ says the letter, ‘and he has spent considerable time and resources in developing, promoting and protecting the deadmau5 Marks’. It continues by revealing that the Al Green Theater is planning to host the musical in July (the tickets are already on sale) ‘unfortunately, while Zimmerman appreciates that the creators of the Infringing Event may be paying tribute to him in this regard, he cannot allow the use of the mark ‘Deadmouse’ (or any other mark associated with Zimmerman) as such use capitalizes on the goodwill and reputation of Zimmerman’s extremely popular marks, name, and personality for commercial gain, and will no doubt create a likelihood of confusion with our client, dilute our client’s rights in the deadmau5 Marks, and cause people to mistakenly believe that Zimmerman endorses or is somehow affiliated with the Infringing Event’.

You can read the 2-page letter here and here, because he tweeted it, as these few comments to justify his pending lawsuit: ‘while i appreciate their intent, they REALLY went about this the wrong way and don’t fully understand how this diminishes certain endeavours’… ‘if i don’t protect my business who will? you? and if i don’t speak, who speaks for me? you? fuck off with thyne self’. But people responsible for the musical haven’t issued any statement yet whereas the letter was giving them a 24 hours notice.

Does Zimmerman think he has invented the large-ear-mouse character? Would he have already forgotten his fight with Disney? ‘Disney did file to block Deadmau5’s registration, arguing that despite the creepy grin and vacant eyes, the “mau5head,” with its round head and round ears, “so resembles Disney’s prior use and registered Disney’s Mouse Ears Marks” as to be likely “to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive.’

Disney file a lawsuit because they were afraid of the confusion and will Zimmerman file another one  because he is afraid of a confusion with a character in a musical, isn’t it ironic and hypocritical?

Last time I have checked, the tickets for the musical were still on sale.