Judge rules against Disney in Pooh case

yahoo ^

[Republican Red]

U.S. judge rules against Milne heir in Pooh case Friday May 9, 8:06 pm ET By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES, May 9 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday denied a bid by the granddaughter of Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne to reclaim the copyright to the classic children's books, dealing a setback to her partner, The Walt Disney Co.

Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles said that Clare Milne could not use changes in U.S. copyright law to reclaim rights to the honey-loving bear that her grandfather sold to literary agent Stephen Slesinger over seven decades ago.

Disney (NYSE:DIS - News) reaps an estimated $1 billion each year in Pooh-related merchandising.

Disney lawyer Daniel Petrocelli said the company planned to appeal the ruling against Milne to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary, to settle the issue of whether the agreement Christopher Milne signed was allowed under federal law.

Slesinger attorney Bert Fields called the ruling "a monstrous victory" and predicted failure for an appeal in this sideshow to a Disney-Slesinger war over royalties that Disney has said could cost it hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Judge Cooper was absolutely right," Fields said. "Disney tried to go around the Slesingers ... to avoid paying royalties ... and the judge saw right through it."

In her order, Judge Cooper ruled that amendments to federal copyright law that allow authors and their heirs to reclaim rights assigned in pre-1978 pacts do not apply to Milne because her father renewed the Slesinger agreement in 1983.

The judge noted that identical claims asserted by the granddaughter of Pooh illustrator Ernest Shepard, Harriet Hunt, were not governed by the 1983 agreement and presumably would give her copyright to Shepard's works on Nov. 5, 2004.

But Slesinger attorney Fields discounted Hunt's claim. "She is not going anywhere with her rights of termination," he said. "It isn't going to mean anything because all she will have is those line drawings and nobody is using those."

Disney, which is involved in a separate long-running contract dispute over royalties with Stephen Slesinger Inc., had backed the women's bids since a court victory would have ended Slesinger's rights to Pooh next year.

Disney has deals with Milne and Hunt to continue making Pooh merchandise if they ultimately win their cases.

The Disney-Slesinger case was recently moved from California state court to federal court on Disney's federal copyright claims, but Slesinger's attorneys expect the ruling to clear the way for a return to the state court that has handled the matter for more than a decade.

Winnie the Pooh, first featured in a series of books in the 1920s, has emerged as one of the most popular characters in children's literature, and has been the inspiration for books, toys, films and television cartoon shows.

Lawyers for Slesinger's heirs claim that Disney could end up owing them $1 billion or more. Disney has said that losing the Slesinger suit could cost it hundreds of millions of dollars in back royalty payments. The case dates back to 1991. (Additional reporting by Kevin Krolicki)

[Republican Red]

Dear Michael Moore,

I wouldn't cash that Disney check yet. Could soon be sort of like "tigger" - BOUNCY

[commandante_zero]

Oh, bother.

[zeugma]

This is both good news and bad news.

Anything that knocks the evil Disney empire down a notch or two is always good news. However, copyright that is eternal is pretty much bad news IMO.

[skinkinthegrass]

Dear Michael Moore, I wouldn't cash that Disney check yet. Could soon be sort of like "tigger" - BOUNCY

Couldn't happen to a nicer Guy...A BOUNCE Heard around the World..GO,POOH,GO.. :)

[twas]

...that is eternal is pretty much bad news IMO.

I would agree.

I do believe that Disney fought to extend copyrights by 50 years (which was granted) to protect their rights to Mickey Mouse.

Disney, and other corporations, want eternal copyright. They do not want any of their property ever to end up in the public domain.

[DonQ]

The odd thing about this suit is that Disney wants to lock up not just the Disneyfied version of the Pooh characters but also the original artwork in the Pooh books. It's as if Disney wanted to claim monopoly not only over its own Alice in Wonderland artwork but also over the original Tenniel drawings.

[AnAmericanMother]

Shepard's drawings are so beautiful compared to the flat plastic Disney abominations. He was a master with pen-and-ink.

But my favorite Shepard drawings are from The Wind in the Willows

Although of course Arthur Rackham did THE definitive WiW illustrations . . .

Shepard is in my opinion a slighter artist than Rackham, who has depths (and dark depths) that Shepard never explored. But Shepard is excellent in his own way, and shows the English countryside as it looked to the countryman of his generation. Much of what Rackham drew came from his imagination.