Disney face lawsuit over the trademark 'Hakuna Matata'

The Swahili phrase which means no problem is the title of a song in the 1994 animated film, The Lion King.

According to Hot New Hip Hop, Them Mushrooms assert that they popularized the phrase first in their song, Jambo Bwana

Also, Shelton Mpala, an activist from Zimbabwe, recently launched a petition asking Disney to abandon to trademark the phrase. Shelton accused the company of cultural appropriation and comparing the phrase to “colonialism” and “robbery“. The petition has attracted over 30,000 signatures.

“Hakuna Matata has been used by most Kiswahili-speaking countries such as Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Disney can’t be allowed to trademark something that it didn’t invent,” the petition states.

Disney applied for the trademark in 1994 in order to stop the phrase being used on unofficial merchandise. The trademark was approved in 2003 and remains active.