The 80-Year Struggle For Control Over Winnie The Pooh (original) (raw)
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Disney is releasing another Winnie the Pooh movie, and the occasion made me think of the peculiar intellectual property fight that has been raging over Pooh for some time.
The story of control over Winnie the Pooh and the other lovable characters that populate the Hundred Acre Wood is fascinating in its byzantine complexity. To summarize:
- The characters were created in the 1920’s by A.A. Milne. Copyright protections at the time lasted for an initial period of 28 years and a renewal period of 28 years.
- In 1930 Milne and Stephen Slesinger entered into a contract granting Slesinger merchandising and other rights in exchange for royalties. Slesinger created a company, Stephen Slesinger Inc. (“SSI”) and assigned those rights to the new entity.
- SSI was extraordinarily energetic with their IP, creating the first Pooh doll, board game, puzzle, radio broadcast, animation and motion picture. By November 1931 Winnie the Pooh was a 50millionbusiness,providinganeyepoppingreturnonSlesinger’s50 million business, providing an eye popping return on Slesinger’s 50millionbusiness,providinganeyepoppingreturnonSlesinger’s1000 upfront payment to Milne (Milne also received 66% of subsequent income).
- Milne died in 1956, with rights to Winnie the Pooh transferred to his wife, Dorothy. Upon Dorothy’s death rights were transferred to the Pooh Properties Trust.
- Disney acquired the rights to Winnie the Pooh from SSI in 1961.
- An amendment of the 1976 Copyright Act granted an additional 19 years of protection.
- Disney negotiated a revised deal with the Pooh Properties Trust in 1983 in order to prevent a feared contract termination.
- In 1998 the Copyright Act was amended again to provide an additional 20 years of protection.
- In 2002, with Disney embroiled in litigation with SSI over claims that it had systematically underpaid royalties due SSI for years, Clare Milne sought to terminate the 1930 agreement.
- In 2006 the U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant a writ of certiorari, leaving the heir of A.A. Milne with no recourse.
It has been a long and winding road for a bear of very little brain. Something to think about as the new movie helps create and enhance the enthusiasm of another generation of fans.
David Johnson recently served as interim CFO for an intellectual property investment vehicle.
David Johnson is a partner with ACM Partners, a boutique financial advisory firm providing due diligence, performance improvement, restructuring and turnaround services to companies and municipalities. He can be reached at 312-505-7238 or at david@acm-partners.com.
Read the original article on ACM Partners. Copyright 2011.
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This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? .