Have you just been accused of copyright infringement by AAFES officials, or have you been sued for copyright infringement by Disney? Or has a copyright infringement action been settled or decided in your favor with Disney?
Fair use is a tricky area of copyright law, as fair use is ultimately determined at the court level. It is often difficult to ascertain whether one's use of copyrighted material, in other words, is fair or not, until a suit has been brought and a court rules that the use of the material is fair.
If others (the General Manager, the Business Manager) are saying that your use of the Disney material is infringement, and Disney has not been in contact with you and a court has not determined your use to be fair use as opposed to infringing, those saying you are infringing have a 50/50 shot at being right.
Truth, or a reasonable belief in the truth of the statements, would be a defense to any claim of defamation you may make.
You would need to show that a court decided your use was fair, or that the copyright holder (Disney) determined your use was fair. Those saying your use was infringement would have to show in court that it was, in fact, infringing on Disney's rights in the material, or they had a reasonable belief that it infringed on Disney's copyrighted material.
Until then, there is no truth or falsity to any accusations of infringement - and without this, there cannot be defamation, as defamation requires that the statements be false.
Disney, by the way, is especially vigilant and aggressive when it comes to dealing with infringement and infringers, and/or potential infringement and infringers. An infringement action, or a cease-and-desist letter from Disney attorneys, for your use of Disney copyrighted material, therefore, if you have not heard from them already, should not be unexpected and would certainly not be an unusual action for Disney to take.
If you used Disney copyrighted material, and if Disney contacted you about your use and/or threatened suit or filed suit against you for infringement, there is really no defamation action here you can bring successfully against them, even if a court ultimately finds your use to be fair. Disney has a legitimate cause of action, if you did not obtain a license to use their material and if they feel your use of their material without such permission infringes on their rights. Only when, or if, there is a final determination by the court that your use is fair and not infringing, could any comment made about your use of the material as infringing be considered defamatory.
You should definitely contact a defamation lawyer, however, to review all that has been said about you to others, and to review all of the facts of the interaction you have had so far with the General Manager, the Business Manager, and/or Disney over the use of Disney copyrighted material.
You should have your vendor contract reviewed by the attorney, as well. You should, especially, review Clause 6 (Indemnify and Hold Harmless) and Clause 24 (vendor warrants that it has complied with all applicable laws and regulations) and Clause 10 (h), where you have agreed that any claims made against AAFES will be supported with appropriate evidence. Having the attorney you hire review the Contract Disputes Act and revisions (41 USC 601-613) would be important, too.
In the event of any litigation, AAFES will be represented by the Department of Justice.
As for being terminated over allegations of infringement, there is not much you can do about employment termination and the contract, as I read it, at any rate, does not seem to guarantee your employment. You can be terminated for any (and no) reason whatsoever. Again, however, review the contract in its entirety with your attorney.
This site has a Find a Lawyer section and ads galore, touting the expertise of various lawyers and law firms. You can check these out, or contact the South Carolina Bar Association, or look into the free legal aid clinics in your state, for assistance and direction.
Good luck.
