Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane and Cartoon Network are named as defendants in a law suit filed by Bourne, the publishing company that owns the rights to the 1940 tune ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ from the classic Disney animated feature Pinocchio. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the company claims copyright infringement associated with the controversial episode ‘When You Wish Upon a Weinstein.’
In the installment in question, Peter Griffin sets out to hire a Jew to handle his money and performs an elaborate musical number titled ‘I Need a Jew,’ which Bourn feels is a thinly veiled reproduction of ‘When You Wish Upon a Star.’ Series composer Walter Murphy is also named in the suit, as is McFarlane’s Fuzzy Door Prods.
Fearing negative reactions from Jewish viewers, FOX declined to air the episode back in 2000. Cartoon Network, which airs reruns of the series, dusted it off and allowed it to finally air in 2003 during its Adult Swim block.
This isn’t the firt time Family Guy has been at the center of a law suit. Earlier this year, comedian Carol Burnett got litigious over a bawdy spoof of the animated opening of her Carol Burnett Show, but the case ended up being dismissed. FOX TV is not commenting on the latest attempt to shake money from animated primetime hit.
