Disney Wins Ruling Pooh Suit

[c&d]

From the Orlando Sentinel

"Disney wins a ruling in long Pooh dispute

By Meg James | Times Staff Writer
Posted March 28, 2007

A federal judge Tuesday dismissed several claims against Walt Disney Co. brought by a Beverly Hills family that holds the merchandising rights to Winnie the Pooh.

U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper threw out three of the Slesinger family's claims in a case dealing with copyright for Winnie the Pooh. Cooper set aside the Slesingers' nine other claims, saying they should be resolved after a decision is reached in an appeal of a related state court case, which Disney won.

"We're pleased with the court's decision," said Daniel Petrocelli, Disney's attorney in the long-running litigation.

Patricia Slesinger saw a silver lining in the judge's decision. "The ruling allows our case to proceed," she said.

In February, Cooper handed the family a rare victory, dismissing a copyright lawsuit that sought to end Disney's obligation to pay the family royalties for sales of Pooh merchandise.

The Slesinger family has said that its claims against the Burbank entertainment giant could be worth as much as $2 billion.

In 1961, the family, which inherited the merchandising rights to Pooh from Slesinger's father, transferred those rights to Disney in exchange for royalties.

But the partnership became contentious. In 1991, the Slesingers sued Disney in state court, alleging breach of contract and fraud. They claimed that through the years Disney had cheated them out of hundreds of millions of dollars in profit from Pooh.

A state court judge tossed out that breach-of-contract case in 2004. That judge, finding misconduct on the part of the family, accused it of trying to gain an edge in the litigation by stealing confidential Disney documents from the company's trash, and then lying and altering court papers to cover up the thefts."

[mcjaco]

That last paragraph speaks volumes about this entire case. If it was a legitimate breach of contract, why are they digging through Disney's garbage and lying on court documents to cover it up.....

[Ian]

I've read quite a bit about the suit and I actually think it's the fault of a very vaguely worded original contract.

There's grey area around whether or not merchandising or DVD/VHS sales revenue was to be included in their percentage of royalties or not.

The Slesingers say yes and Disney (obviously) says no. Why they dug through the trash and all that I have no idea, but from what I've seen the suit at least has enough legal merit on some points to move forward and be decided in a court of law. I think there are some legitimate contractual points that need to be ruled on.

[battle beast]

Uh, all these "I want money" make me so sad...

[JPL]

This type of case is going to become more and more common with the new technology available. I mean I still remember sending out footage from MTV for particular shows that stated 30 second clip to be used in (insert show title here) that will air on (Network) on a certain date. Later the legal department would come and pull the records looking to see the agreement especially if that show was going to video or even if the show was going to re-air on a later date. Disney is having a similar type dispute with Starz regarding exclusive content. I'm sure none of the older contracts mention Blu-Ray or Itunes. I'm sure in the future we see these contracts being written to cover distribution on other media formats but for now most are very specific and outdated.

The best example that fits the Disney Pooh case would be recording artists whose royalty contracts didn't include CD royalties only records and tapes.

[Magic Fanatic]

Uh, all these "I want money" make me so sad...

So, if you were a member of this family that claims they were not paid royaltues that they maintain they were due, you would just say "oh, well" and not fight for it?

I have no idea who is right or wrong in this case (the truth is probably somewhere in the middle), but with this much money at stake I am sure most people woulld fight for it.