September 30, 2009
18 Year Copyright Battle Over Winnie the Pooh Finally Over… For Now
“A day without royalties is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside.”
A U.S. District Judge dismissed the copyright suit brought by the heirs of the licensee for the Winnie the Pooh character, Stephen Slessinger. This case has special meaning to us in Florida for a number of reasons. Of course, the mouse house is a huge source of revenue for us, and Slessinger’s widow, who originally brought the copyright suit against Disney, lived in Tampa for years. Slessinger originally acquired the rights to our beloved Pooh Bear in 1930 from author, A. A. Milne. Slessinger’s widow, who lived in Tampa for a number of years, licensed the rights to Pooh to Disney in 1961.
The Late Mr. Slessinger
Stephen Slessinger, Inc. (SSI) originally sued Disney alleging that it breached the original licensing deal by attempting to avoid paying the family more than $700 Million in royalties. SSI alleged that Disney comingled revenues generated by Pooh with Disney’s general revenues to avoid paying the royalties. That suit was dismissed in 2004 when the court ruled that the evidence relied on by SSI was improperly obtained through misconduct by a private investigator. To be exact, the dismissal of the suit was one of the sanctions issued by the court.
September 27, 2009
New Copyright Czar, Background in Trade and Education
Victoria the Not-so-Terrible
On Friday, President Obama appointed the first “Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator,” a new position created last year by the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act (a.k.a. the PRO-IP Act). While many criticized that legislation as further enlisting U.S. law enforcement to do the dirty work of the RIAA and MPAA, some of those same voices are praising the president’s choice of Victoria A. Espinel as a fair compromise.
“We believe she will be fair in her approach to intellectual property enforcement issues,” said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a left-leaning digital-rights advocacy group. (source)
This commentator hopes that Ms. Espinel’s understanding of the complex landscape of international trade, combined with a history in academics — where the value of citation and accretion is recognized over draconian exclusion — will help move copyright policy towards something a bit more sensible than life-plus-70.
This story has also been published on The Legal Satyricon.
September 22, 2009
Welcome
Welcome to the Tactical IP blog, your source for up-to-date information about the rapidly changing world of intellectual property law. Check back soon for new articles and other content that will help you best protect your intangible assets.
