Mouse Pursued By Lawyer in Bear Suit
By John Eggerton
Broadcasting & Cable
5/25/2005 4:14:00 PM
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA603904.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
Isn't it funny how a bear likes money?
The attorney for Stephen Slesinger Inc., which owns licensing rights to the
A.A. Milne/Ernest Shepard classic, Winnie the Pooh, has filed an appeal of
the dismissal of its lawsuit against Disney, which Slesinger Inc. says owes
it $700 million in unpaid royalties over the past 20 years, which may
include some video rights and ad sales revenues from Pooh TV titles.
The suit was thrown out of a state court back in April 2004 after the court
found that an investigator had gone onto Disney property to secure
documents from the garbage.
Slesinger, which purchased the original merchandising rights back in 1930
then sublicensed them to Disney, Wednesday appealed that dismissal to the
California Court of Appeals, saying it wants the state court to try the
case without using those challenged documents. Disney has 90 days to respond.
Disney secured agreements for all but book rights to the Pooh property in
1961, then reorganized those rights in 1983. It is that reorganization that
is the subject of at least two lawsuits.
The other suit, an attempt by heirs of Milne and Shepard to recapture the
rights from Slesinger and renegotiate them with Disney, was rebuffed by the
courts in 2002, but that also is being appealed.
In extending the length of copyrights, Congress has made it clear that its
intent was to help authors and families, not licensers like Disney or
Slesinger. That includes giving those families a mechanism for reclaiming
the rights and negotiating new deals in some cases, according to attorney
Roger L. Zissu, who is representing Slesinger in the federal suit involving
the Milne and Shepard heirs
Reply briefs in that suit are due this month.
=================================================
George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923
Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927
Political Science Internet: antunes at uh dot edu
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-3011
Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post.
_______________________________________________
MEDIANEWS mailing list
[email protected]
To unsubscribe send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
