Naples: The prosecution calls -- Mickey Mouse

A Naples court summoned Donald and Daisy Duck, Mickey Mouse and Tweety Bird to appear as witnesses in a criminal trial, but they can't come because they live in Disneyland.(File Photo)

BEIJING, Dec. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- A Naples court summoned Donald and Daisy Duck, Mickey Mouse and Tweety Bird to appear as witnesses in a criminal trial, but they can't come because they live in Disneyland.

In what lawyers believe was a clerical error, the cartoon characters were listed as witnesses in the trial of a man accused of counterfeiting Disney and Warner Bros. products.

The court summons cites "Titty, Paperino, Paperina, Topolino" ─ the Italian names for the characters ─ as damaged parties in the trial.

Instead of naming just the companies and their legal representatives, clerks also wrote in the witness list the names of the cartoons that decorated the toys and gadgets the man had allegedly reproduced, said Fiorenza Sorotto, vice president of Disney Company Italia.

"Unfortunately they cannot show up, as they are residents of Disneyland," Sorotto joked in a telephone interview. "It certainly pleased us that the characters were considered real, because that's what we try to do."

The Naples court will have to rewrite the summons, though this will probably delay the trial, said Disney lawyer Cristina Ravelli.

"Let's hope the characters will not be prosecuted for failing to appear," Ravelli quipped.

(Agencies)