The litigation between Disney and the family of Stephen Slesinger over Winnie the Pooh merchandising rights is over:  Disney won.  U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled last Friday that Disney controls the copyrights and trademarks of the property.  The Slesinger family will continue to receive royalties based on Disney’s use of the property. 

The case started in 1991 when the Slesinger family sued Disney, alleging that it was being underpaid royalties.  Stephen Slesinger acquired the rights to the property from creator A. A. Milne in 1930, and subsequently assigned them to Disney in exchange for a royalty flow.  Winnie the Pooh eventually became Disney’s most profitable property.

The litigation went awry in 2004, when the judge threw out the case after the Slesinger family used illegal tactics to gather evidence (see “Dumpster Diving Dick Deep-sixes Suit”).  Disney also took its lumps; it was unable to convince the court that it should no longer pay copyrights (see “Disney Drops Decision in Copyright Case”). 

The Slesingers had also sued to reclaim copyrights; that was the case that was decided in Disney’s favor last week.