[RebelBanker]

the film was finished by the time Le Calvez's first book came out

"Finding Nemo" thus legally predates Pierrot, Le Poisson Clown. Game over, Disney/Pixar wins.

[Shermy]

the film was finished by the time Le Calvez's first book came out

But he claims that the fish was trademarked in 1995, and that he passed around something to animation businesses after that...so I suppose that's where he'll say the rip-off occured.

[JustAnAmerican]

As much as I despise the Anti-American French, his version actually pre-dated Disney's by a few years..Le Calvez, a 33-year-old aquarium buff, said in an interview Monday that he registered Pierrot as a trademark with France's industrial protection and copyrights body in 1995.