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Milne heir set to lose round of messy Pooh case
Reuters, 05.02.03, 8:51 PM ET
By Peter Henderson
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge has ruled tentatively that the granddaughter of Winnie the Pooh's creator could not have the U.S. marketing rights to the lovable bear, her lawyer said on Friday, delivering a blow to the Walt Disney Co. in its fight for Pooh's financial honeypot.
If finalized, the ruling would be a major victory for Stephen Slesinger Inc., the company that currently holds the Pooh copyright and has been a thorn in the side of Disney for more than two decades, filing lawsuits and claiming Disney owes it millions in back royalty payments.
Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles has reviewed the copyright case and will hear oral arguments on Monday. But in her initial ruling designed to clarify the legal issues in the case, Cooper held that Clare Milne could not use a change in U.S. copyright law to reclaim the U.S. rights to Winnie the Pooh next year, her lawyer David Nimmer told Reuters.
Her grandfather, British author A.A. Milne, sold the U.S. rights in 1930 to American literary agent Stephen Slesinger.
Nimmer stressed that the ruling was not final. "We are confident in the strength of our position," he told Reuters.
Disney, which makes about $1 billion of Pooh-related merchandise each year under the disputed contract with Slesinger, did not go to court as a coplaintiff with Milne.
But Disney has said it made a deal with her to continue making Pooh products if she won and her efforts were seen as a bid to undermine the Slesinger side or at least put extra pressure on it in a closely watched multi-million dollar battle over stuffed animals and decals on children's clothing.
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
Disney has said a ruling against it in its legal battle with Slesinger could cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars, and it recently asked a federal court to remove the case from the California superior court, which has been hearing it for the last decade.
Disney argued the change in court jurisdiction was required since the copyright issue -- a federal matter -- had been raised.
Slesinger lawyer Bonnie Eskenazi said that Disney's efforts to change courts was a bid to draw out the case for even more years. "It is one of Disney's classic delay tactics," she said.
Disney denies that and recently accused Slesinger of hiring unlicensed private detectives to steal documents from its offices and rummage through its trash, an argument it expects to give it the upper hand in the case.
Bert Fields, the lead lawyer for Slesinger, dismissed the accusations of theft in a recent interview with Reuters but said that detectives had gathered papers from a Disney dumpster.
"Taking trash from a publicly accessible trash bin, even if it is on private property, is acceptable," Fields said.
Eskenazi said the case was in limbo, thanks to Disney's request for the federal court to review the main case.
A victory for Slesinger over Clare Milne on Monday would almost certainly mean that the Disney-Slesinger lawsuit would continue to be heard in California Superior Court.
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service
Reuters, 05.02.03, 8:51 PM ET
By Peter Henderson
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge has ruled tentatively that the granddaughter of Winnie the Pooh's creator could not have the U.S. marketing rights to the lovable bear, her lawyer said on Friday, delivering a blow to the Walt Disney Co. in its fight for Pooh's financial honeypot.
If finalized, the ruling would be a major victory for Stephen Slesinger Inc., the company that currently holds the Pooh copyright and has been a thorn in the side of Disney for more than two decades, filing lawsuits and claiming Disney owes it millions in back royalty payments.
Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles has reviewed the copyright case and will hear oral arguments on Monday. But in her initial ruling designed to clarify the legal issues in the case, Cooper held that Clare Milne could not use a change in U.S. copyright law to reclaim the U.S. rights to Winnie the Pooh next year, her lawyer David Nimmer told Reuters.
Her grandfather, British author A.A. Milne, sold the U.S. rights in 1930 to American literary agent Stephen Slesinger.
Nimmer stressed that the ruling was not final. "We are confident in the strength of our position," he told Reuters.
Disney, which makes about $1 billion of Pooh-related merchandise each year under the disputed contract with Slesinger, did not go to court as a coplaintiff with Milne.
But Disney has said it made a deal with her to continue making Pooh products if she won and her efforts were seen as a bid to undermine the Slesinger side or at least put extra pressure on it in a closely watched multi-million dollar battle over stuffed animals and decals on children's clothing.
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
Disney has said a ruling against it in its legal battle with Slesinger could cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars, and it recently asked a federal court to remove the case from the California superior court, which has been hearing it for the last decade.
Disney argued the change in court jurisdiction was required since the copyright issue -- a federal matter -- had been raised.
Slesinger lawyer Bonnie Eskenazi said that Disney's efforts to change courts was a bid to draw out the case for even more years. "It is one of Disney's classic delay tactics," she said.
Disney denies that and recently accused Slesinger of hiring unlicensed private detectives to steal documents from its offices and rummage through its trash, an argument it expects to give it the upper hand in the case.
Bert Fields, the lead lawyer for Slesinger, dismissed the accusations of theft in a recent interview with Reuters but said that detectives had gathered papers from a Disney dumpster.
"Taking trash from a publicly accessible trash bin, even if it is on private property, is acceptable," Fields said.
Eskenazi said the case was in limbo, thanks to Disney's request for the federal court to review the main case.
A victory for Slesinger over Clare Milne on Monday would almost certainly mean that the Disney-Slesinger lawsuit would continue to be heard in California Superior Court.
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service
