Disney took the story of Snow White from the Jakob & Wilhelm, the Brothers Grimm, who published in 1857 as tale #52 in Kinder - und Hausmärchen. The story and the characters are in public domain; the only copyrights Disney owns are for the film itself and the character depictions therein.

The story as recorded by the Grimms describes Snow White as having "...skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony". That still leaves lots of room for variation that doesn't run afoul of Disney's stuff. You can make a drawing of any pale, black-haired woman, label it "Snow White" and never have to worry about running afoul of Mickey Rat.

Disney has let the public believe that...

Disney took the story of Snow White from the Jakob & Wilhelm, the Brothers Grimm, who published in 1857 as tale #52 in Kinder - und Hausmärchen. The story and the characters are in public domain; the only copyrights Disney owns are for the film itself and the character depictions therein.

The story as recorded by the Grimms describes Snow White as having "...skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony". That still leaves lots of room for variation that doesn't run afoul of Disney's stuff. You can make a drawing of any pale, black-haired woman, label it "Snow White" and never have to worry about running afoul of Mickey Rat.

Disney has let the public believe that many characters it made famous are their creations. The truth is that a good number of them were just grabbed out of public domain and the original authors of the rest are forgotten. Bambi, A Life In The Woods, for example, was written by Felix Salten and published in 1923. (I find it amusing that "Bambi" has become a stereotypical bimbo's name, since in the book and movie, Bambi is male.)