just some sort of basic law-information:
A work of art is automatically copyrighted as soon as it is created as long as it is a genuine work of art or (if it is based on an existing work of art) adds a certain degree of new elements (labor going into it). This is true for a wide variety of works of art, basically everything that involves creativity in some way, e.g. texts, drawings, sketches, designs, layout etc. Nobody has to apply for a copyright and these works of art are copyrighted the momented they are created no matter wether the copyright owner puts a copyright notice next to it. Therefore Disney automatically owns the copyrights (or at least the rights to use them) e.g. for their characters. But you also own the copyrights for the texts you post here.
There is a certain minimum standard for works of art to be considered copyright-worthy. E.g. a name (like Disney) is not protected by copyright, but depending on the state we are talking about a unique wordcreation might be (this would be a border-case).
Trademarks and other protection rights on the other hand need to be applied for and have certain minimum requirements.
About the photo question: again this is different from state to state. Basically you can say that if on private property (=WDW) the owner can tell you what to do and what not to do. Usually the tickets or signs at the ticket booths / small print in the reservation tells you that you agree to the general rules of WDW. For theme parks they usually state that you are allowed to take photos for private use only, but prohibited to publish them, sell them use them in articles etc. That is how they prevent unofficial guidebooks from just snapping away and publishing the photos.
To go into more detail contact an American lawyer
Yours
Dirk
A work of art is automatically copyrighted as soon as it is created as long as it is a genuine work of art or (if it is based on an existing work of art) adds a certain degree of new elements (labor going into it). This is true for a wide variety of works of art, basically everything that involves creativity in some way, e.g. texts, drawings, sketches, designs, layout etc. Nobody has to apply for a copyright and these works of art are copyrighted the momented they are created no matter wether the copyright owner puts a copyright notice next to it. Therefore Disney automatically owns the copyrights (or at least the rights to use them) e.g. for their characters. But you also own the copyrights for the texts you post here.
There is a certain minimum standard for works of art to be considered copyright-worthy. E.g. a name (like Disney) is not protected by copyright, but depending on the state we are talking about a unique wordcreation might be (this would be a border-case).
Trademarks and other protection rights on the other hand need to be applied for and have certain minimum requirements.
About the photo question: again this is different from state to state. Basically you can say that if on private property (=WDW) the owner can tell you what to do and what not to do. Usually the tickets or signs at the ticket booths / small print in the reservation tells you that you agree to the general rules of WDW. For theme parks they usually state that you are allowed to take photos for private use only, but prohibited to publish them, sell them use them in articles etc. That is how they prevent unofficial guidebooks from just snapping away and publishing the photos.
To go into more detail contact an American lawyer
Yours
Dirk