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Il Gabibbo sbarca sulle pagine del New York Times. Il maggior quotidiano americano racconta oggi ai lettori la storia della causa legale per plagio legata alla somiglianza tra il popolare personaggio creato di Antonio Ricci e la mascotte 'Big Red' della Western Kentucky University. Secondo il Nyt, in un'udienza in programma mercoledì prossimo nel tribunale di Lugo (Ravenna), che si occupa da tempo della vicenda, sarà discussa una richiesta di 250 milioni di dollari di danni da parte dell'università americana, per violazione del copyright e dei diritti di sfruttamento commerciali. Le origini di una star italiana sono state trovate sulle colline del Kentucky?', si chiede in Nyt, nel titolo del servizio da Milano, sottolineando che l'università con sede a Bowling Green si trova ora a portare in giudizio "la società televisiva controllata dal primo ministro italiano, Silvio Berlusconi". Dopo aver raccontato chi è il Gabibbo e quale sia il livello della sua popolarità in Italia, il New York Times dà la parola a Ricci, secondo il quale "Big Red sembra simile al Gabibbo proprio come il Gabibbo assomiglia a 100 altre mascotte. C'é chi dice che assomigli ad un personaggio di Sesame Street. Il punto - ha aggiunto il creatore di 'Striscia la Notizia' - è che ci sono decine di mascotte che si assomigliano". (Ansa 27/2/04)

Are Origins of Italian Star Found in Hills of Kentucky?
By ERIC SYLVERS

Published: February 27, 2004


Top: Joe Imel
The casually dressed Big Red of Western Kentucky, above, and the more formal Gabibbo of Italian TV. Western Kentucky is seeking $250 million.

MMILAN, Feb. 26 - What do Western Kentucky University and one of Italy's most popular television programs have in common? Hint: it is big, furry and red, and it dances.

Western Kentucky's mascot, known as Big Red, is about to land the university and Mediaset, the television company controlled by the prime minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, in court.

The university, in Bowling Green, says the mascot for Mediaset's satirical show "Striscia la Notizia" is a carbon copy of Big Red, and it is suing the company for $250 million for trademark and copyright infringement. The two sides have a preliminary hearing on Wednesday in a small town near the northern Italian city of Ravenna.

Western Kentucky's lawyers contend that since Mediaset introduced its mascot, Gabibbo, in 1990, the company has been illegally exploiting the image of Big Red, which was created in 1979.

Mediaset has filed a countersuit against Adfra, a company based in Ravenna that has a license to distribute the character's image in Italy, saying it is illegally profiting from Gabibbo's fame. Adfra is selling reflective jackets - which Italy will soon require drivers to carry in their cars in case, say, they need to change a tire - with Big Red on the back.

Gabibbo has a striking resemblance to Big Red and physically distinguishes himself only in that he is better dressed than his American counterpart. Gabibbo has been a famous Italian TV character for more than a decade, and a CD of his songs topped the charts in Italy for a time in 1990. "Striscia la Notizia," which loosely translates as "stripping the news," is broadcast daily just after the evening news on Mediaset's flagship channel, Canale 5.

Western Kentucky's best evidence in the battle might be an interview a Mediaset manager gave to the Italian magazine Novella 2000 in February 1991.

In the interview, Antonio Ricci, who created "Striscia la Notizia" for Mediaset and is still the program's director, responded to a question explaining how he came up with the idea for Gabibbo: "It all began with a photo, just as happens with real adoptions. There was this mascot, his name was Big Red, who was the mascot of a basketball team in America. The team is Western Kentucky University."

When asked if he had imported Big Red to Italy, Mr. Ricci responded, "Yes, Big Red became Gabibbo."

In a telephone interview on Thursday, Mr. Ricci said that he was joking during that interview and that he had never seen a photo of Big Red until the Novella 2000 journalist showed one to him.

"Big Red looks like Gabibbo just like Gabibbo looks like 100 other mascots," Mr. Ricci said. "Some people say that Big Red looks like Sesame Street's Cookie Monster. The bottom line is that there are dozens of mascots that look alike."

Steven Crossland, president of Crossland Enterprises, a trademark licensing company that holds the rights to Big Red as well as mascots at Duke University, Georgetown, Michigan and North Carolina, said, "There are trademark and copyright issues all the time, but I've never seen one before where somebody takes a mascot and turns him into a television superstar."

(da: www.nytimes.com/2004/02/27/business/worldbusiness/27mediaset.html - per accedere... iscrizione (rapida)