Short answer, no. Disney+ is not guilty of trademarking the phrase, “May the 4th.” They are, however, guilty of writing a very confusing tweet.
Disney+ announced earlier today that the entire Skywalker Saga will be available to stream on May the 4th. Yes, all 9 films, which means Rise of Skywalker too! The 9th film had long been speculated to appear on the streaming platform on May 4th, and this morning it was confirmed.
Disney+ then shared the tweet below. In an effort to celebrate the saga, they asked followers to reply to their tweet with a Star Wars memory. If you tweet at them and use the hashtag “#Maythe4th,” Disney+ is saying you may see your tweet in a special place.
And just like that, with a simple follow-up tweet to discuss legal matters, the Twitter Universe was a frenzy. Some followers read the tweet the wrong way and thought Disney+ was implying they couldn’t use the#Maythe4th, because Disney had trademarked it.
Twitter user @Itsukushimi tweeted the above picture and other people were quick to tweet replies back to Disney+ too. As a result of that, #Mayth4th is now trending on the social media platform.
Needless to say, some twitter users jumped to conclusions (that never happens on social media. *rolls eyes*). I can understand how it might be confusing to some, but all Disney+ is doing is sharing that if they use that hashtag and share a Star Wars memory to them, legally they can share it or create content off of it. That’s it. There’s no trademarking, and this isn’t one of those “House of Mouse” being greedy stories. In legal terms, Disney+ is just covering themselves, while positively engaging with their followers.
Did you read it the correct way first time around, or did you also think Disney+ was implying they trademarked “May the 4th” and we couldn’t use it unless we had their permission?
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