Has Disneyland horror escaped from a lawsuit?

If there's a studio that values its intellectual property above all else, it's Disney.

But a micro-budget horror film that has been made without permission in its theme parks – with less than flattering depictions of some of its characters – looks like it could be released without any threat of a lawsuit.

'Escape From Tomorrow' is the debut movie from writer and director Randy Moore, and was shot, rather bravely, in black at white at Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California using 'guerilla filming techniques' to avoid detection. Watch the sinister trailer above.

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It tells the distinctly David Lynch-esque story of Jim White, a father of two who finds out that he has been laid off on the last day of a family holiday at Walt Disney World.

Keeping the news to himself, in order not to spoil the holiday, he begins to have paranoid visions and hallucinations. The characters become sinister, while the Disney Princesses are depicted as high-class escorts for Asian businessmen staying at the park.

Unaware if he is having a breakdown, he becomes obsessed by two teenage French girls and is later apprehended by security, upon which he is brainwashed, while a deadly flu virus begins to spread around the park.

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As if to add an additional poke in the eye to the studio, the poster for the film rather blatantly uses Mickey Mouse's hand dripping with blood and the studio's instantly recognisable font.

It's all a lawsuit waiting to happen, but to the surprise of much of Hollywood, the studio appear to be turning a blind eye to Moore's film, which premiered to some acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Even the eminent Roger Ebert selected it for his own film festival, just before his death, calling it 'ultimately about the terror of ubiquitous entertainment'.

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Loyola Law School professor Jay Dougherty said that the filming without permission might not be 'actionable' on Disney's part, but that the studio 'could have a stronger case regarding trademark law and trademark dilution', were it to pursue the filmmakers in court.

But it's thought, with spokespersons not commenting on the matter, that the studio is ignoring the film in order not to play into the filmmaker's hands and give the film the publicity that would surround a major lawsuit.

As pointed out by THR, 'because so much of the film's fascination hinges on its Disney-defying reputation, a shrug of the studio's shoulders could deflate that buzz like a three-day-old Mylar balloon'.

However, could giving the film a 'free pass' open the floodgates for other would-be usurper's of intellectual property to trample over Disney's squeaky-clean image?

That remains to be seen.