Disney’s Copyright Wars

Walt Disney Company (DIS) has recently won a copyright infringement case running since 1991, relating to the famous animated character ‘Winnie the Pooh.’

In 1930, Stephen Slesinger, a New York television and film producer, acquired the merchandising rights to the Pooh works from author A.A. Milne. Later in 1961, Slesinger transferred the rights to Disney in exchange for a regular royalty. However, the heirs of Slesinger filed a case against Disney, alleging its failure to pay billions in royalties.

The case has been dismissed by the court on the grounds that Stephen Slesinger Inc. had transferred all of its rights to Disney, and had no legal rights to claim any compensation for any infringement.

In a separate story, Walt Disney could face a copyright battle for Marvel characters, having recently agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment (MVL) in a cash and stock deal worth approximately $4 billion.

The children of late artist Jack Kirby, represented by the Los Angeles law firm Toberoff & Associates, have served notices related to copyright termination for 45 characters (including the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Thor and the Hulk) created by the artist to Walt Disney, Marvel Entertainment, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures.

Jack Kirby died in 1994. Sony Pictures owns movie rights to Spider-Man, and 20th Century Fox owns movie rights to the Fantastic Four and X-Men. Paramount Pictures has a film distribution deal for four upcoming films produced by Marvel, and Universal Pictures has distribution rights to Hulk movies.

Kirby’s children seek to gain control of the characters, which would give them explicit right to license the characters for a fee or to sell them to a new licensee. If Kirby’s children win the copyright claims, Disney may end up losing ownership of many of Marvel's most famous super-hero characters.

The purchase of Marvel Entertainment is Disney's largest acquisition since 2006, when it had purchased Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

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