CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP):

DISNEY ENTERPRISES Inc. lost a bid yesterday to prevent its trademarks in South Africa from being sold off to pay for damages if it loses a court battle with a poor family that says it lost millions in royalties from the hit song The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

Lawyers acting for the family of the late musician Solomon Linda, who penned the original song Mbube in 1939, obtained a court order in July attaching more than 240 trademarks registered here to their US$1.6 million suit in order to establish local jurisdiction.

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The trademarks, which include well known images such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, could be sold locally to pay Linda's heirs if they win their lawsuit, according to yesterday's ruling by the Pretoria High Court.

"It means that Mickey Mouse is still in
captivity," said Adri Malan, spokesman for
the family's legal team.

Joyce Lorigan, a London-based spokeswoman for Disney, said the judgment was disappointing but had no impact on the substance of the dispute.

"The real issue in this lawsuit is whether Linda's estate or Abilene Music Publishing ­ who bought the rights to the song from Linda's wife ­ owns the copyright to The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Lorigan said in a statement.

The action is based on laws in force in Commonwealth nations at the time the song was first recorded. Under these provisions, the rights to a song revert to the composer's heirs 25 years after his death.

No court date has been set for the case.

Linda died penniless in 1962, having sold the rights to his original song to the South African company Abilene Music Publishing.

It went on to generate an estimated US$15 million in royalties after it was adapted by other artistes, including the American songwriter George Weiss, whose version is featured in The Lion King.

The song has been covered by at least 150 artistes, including The Tokens, George Michael, Miriam Makeba and The Spinners.

Linda's three surviving daughters and 10 grandchildren, living in poverty in the Johannesburg township of Soweto, have received only a one-time payment of US$15,000, according to their lawyers.

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