Disney Threatens, Then Reverses, Legal Action Over Photos Fans Took Of Their Legally Purchased Star Wars Toy


Spoiler alert!

A couple of Star Wars fans received a slew of takedown notices via Facebook and Twitter earlier this week after sharing a photo of one of the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens action figures online.

Star Wars podcast producers and enthusiasts Justin Kozisek and Marjorie Carvalho legally bought Rey, one of the new Star Wars characters, for less than $10 in an Iowa Walmart. They immediately posted their new action figure on their social media channels for Star Wars Action News podcast – and it went viral.

Apparently, Disney thought it was too viral.

"A friend texted my husband saying, hey, are you getting sued?" Carvalho told Ars Technica after Facebook deleted their post. "We looked and noticed we'd gotten a notice from Facebook saying our image violated copyright. It was confusing because our staff member, Justin, he took the photo."

"I woke up to numerous DMCA takedown notices on the @starwarsunity Twitter account, the Facebook account, the Google+ Page, and my personal Twitter for posting the image of an action figure," Jeremy Conrad wrote on his blog.

"Because Hasbro is terrified of pissing off Disney and losing the Star Wars license early, they're threatening and bullying fans online with legal action for sharing pictures of their purchases," he said

The backlash on social media showed fans accusing Disney of going to "Dark Side" – and threatening to boycott the film.

Eventually, Disney reversed the order on Friday.

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