Lawyers: Kim Kardashian Robber Won't Benefit from Book

US reality star Kim Kardashian. Reuters file photo
US reality star Kim Kardashian. Reuters file photo
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Lawyers: Kim Kardashian Robber Won't Benefit from Book

US reality star Kim Kardashian. Reuters file photo
US reality star Kim Kardashian. Reuters file photo

Yunice Abbas, awaiting trial for the robbery of US reality star Kim Kardashian in Paris four years ago, will not benefit financially from the book he has published about the heist, lawyers said Wednesday.

The lawyers, Henri de Beauregard and Mohand Ouidja, said they had on Tuesday obtained a court order "authorizing the seizure of rights" on the sales of his book entitled "I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian" which was published at the beginning of the month.

They represent the night watchman at the luxury residence Kardashian rented while she attended Paris Fashion Week in 2016.

Abbas, who calls himself a "part-time crook," was one of 12 people arrested for nabbing a small fortune in jewels after surprising Kardashian in the rented apartment.

As his book's title makes clear Abbas, 67, has no plans to contest the charges at a trial prosecutors are hoping will begin this year.

It was the biggest robbery of an individual in France in two decades, with the thieves making off with a combined haul worth about nine million euros ($10.8 million).

Most of the pieces were never found: police have recovered only a diamond-encrusted cross that Abbas dropped while leaving the scene by bike.

He was one of five men aged 60 to 72 -- dubbed the "Grandpa robbers" in the press -- who entered Kardashian's apartment at around 2:30 am on the night of October 3, 2016.

The star later told police the men, at least one of whom was wearing a jacket with police insignia, tied her up with plastic cables and adhesive tape, and placed her in the bathtub.

In his book, Abbas gives the details of what he describes as a perfectly executed crime.

The night guard's lawyers said that "our client considers this communication campaign indecent. He maintains that the individuals who attacked him that evening were not peaceful 'grandpa robbers', but determined and armed criminals".

The watchman, who had been working to finance his studies at the Sorbonne university, was "neutralized by several people under threat of a gun", they said.

Seizing the rights to the sale of the book means that Abbas won't be able to profit from the publication, they added. The royalties will be sequestered "until the day they can be handed over to our client" in compensation for the damage suffered, said de Beauregard, stressing that his client had sustained psychological consequences as a result of the armed robbery.

Abbas and his alleged accomplices were arrested three months after the robbery. They include several French suspects with criminal records dating back the 1980s and '90s.

Abbas has already spent a total of 21 years in jail but told AFP he had been "clean" for nine years before being offered the Kardashian heist "at a time when I needed the money".

After 22 months behind bars, a judge released him on health grounds, and Abbas now hopes a jury will be lenient after he underwent heart surgery.

The book's publishers, Archipel, have not commented on Abbas' literary efforts.



Disney Sues Hong Kong Company It Says Is Selling Illegal Mickey Mouse Jewelry

Mickey Mouse balloons are displayed at Disneyland Paris in Chessy, France, June 8, 2018. (AP)
Mickey Mouse balloons are displayed at Disneyland Paris in Chessy, France, June 8, 2018. (AP)
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Disney Sues Hong Kong Company It Says Is Selling Illegal Mickey Mouse Jewelry

Mickey Mouse balloons are displayed at Disneyland Paris in Chessy, France, June 8, 2018. (AP)
Mickey Mouse balloons are displayed at Disneyland Paris in Chessy, France, June 8, 2018. (AP)

The Walt Disney Co. on Wednesday sued a Hong Kong jewelry company it accuses of selling illegal Mickey Mouse jewelry.

The international media and entertainment conglomerate filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles against the Red Earth Group, which sells jewelry online under the name Satéur.

Disney says the marketing and branding of the rings, necklaces and earrings in Satéur's “Mickey 1928 Collection” violate its trademark rights and that the Hong Kong company is deliberately trying to fool customers into thinking the pieces are official Disney merchandise.

Satéur, the suit alleges, “intends to present Mickey Mouse as its own brand identifier for its jewelry merchandise and "seeks to trade on the recognizability of the Mickey Mouse trademarks and consumers’ affinity for Disney and its iconic ambassador Mickey Mouse.”

A message seeking comment from representatives of the Red Earth Group was not immediately answered.

The lawsuit is indicative of Disney's dogged efforts to protect its intellectual property from unauthorized appropriation. Although the earliest version of Mickey Mouse entered the public domain last year after Disney's copyright expired, the company still holds trademark rights to the character.

Lawyers for Disney argue in the suit that Red Earth’s online marketing efforts “extensively trade on the Mickey Mouse trademarks and the Disney brand” with language that includes describing the jewelry as great for “Disney enthusiasts.”

Such tactics indicate Red Earth was “intentionally trying to confuse consumers,” the lawsuit says. The impression created, it says, "suggests, at a minimum, a partnership or collaboration with Disney.”

The earliest depiction of Mickey Mouse, who first appeared publicly in the film short “Steamboat Willie” in 1928, are now in the US public domain. The widely publicized moment was considered a landmark in iconography going public.

The lawsuit alleges that Red Earth and Satéur are trying to use that status as a “ruse” to suggest the jewelry is legal, by dubbing it the “Mickey 1928 Collection” and saying it is being sold in tribute to the mouse's first appearance.

The centerpiece of the collection, the suit says, is a piece of jewelry marketed as the "Satéur Mickey 1928 Classique Ring,” which has a Steamboat Willie charm sitting on the band holding a synthetic stone.

But there is an essential difference between copyright, which protects works of art, and trademark, which protects a company's brand.

Even if a character is in the public domain, it cannot be used on merchandise in a way that suggests it is from the company with the trademark, as Disney alleges Red Earth is doing.

“Disney remains committed to guarding against unlawful trademark infringement and protecting consumers from confusion caused by unauthorized uses of Mickey Mouse and our other iconic characters,” Disney said in a statement Wednesday.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction against Red Earth selling the jewelry or trading on Disney's trademark in any other way, along with monetary damages to be determined later.