BUSINESS
June 19, 2002 | Reuters
A Los Angeles judge said he wanted to reconsider an independent auditor's report that Walt Disney Co. had almost fully paid for rights to the Winnie the Pooh character despite a licensor's allegations of millions of dollars in underpayments. In his tentative ruling, Superior Court Judge Ernest Hiroshige questioned the finding that Disney owed Stephen Slesinger Inc. just $11,000 in royalties stemming from a 1983 licensing agreement, Slesinger attorney Bonnie Eskenazi said.
BUSINESS
June 19, 2002 | Reuters
A Los Angeles judge Tuesday said he wanted to reconsider an independent auditor's report that Walt Disney Co. had almost fully paid for rights to the Winnie the Pooh character despite a licensor's allegations of millions of dollars in underpayments. In his tentative ruling, Superior Court Judge Ernest Hiroshige questioned the finding that Disney owed Stephen Slesinger Inc. just $11,000 in royalties stemming from a 1983 licensing agreement, Slesinger attorney Bonnie Eskenazi said.
BUSINESS
June 27, 2006 | From the Associated Press
The Supreme Court declined Monday to decide whether the granddaughter of A.A. Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh, can recapture control of the copyright for stories featuring the popular children's character. Milne wrote the Pooh books from 1924 to 1928 and granted a license to Stephen Slesinger in 1930. Slesinger, in turn, granted his rights to Stephen Slesinger Inc. The firm sublicensed certain rights to the Pooh works to Walt Disney Co.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003 | From Associated Press
A Los Angeles federal court judge has sent the 12-year-old battle over royalties from the sale of Winnie the Pooh merchandise back to a state court. The decision places the case back on track for a trial over whether Walt Disney Co. shortchanged Stephen Slesinger Inc. on royalties due from the sale of Pooh merchandise. The case had been transferred to federal court this year to decide whether the granddaughter of Pooh creator A.A.
BUSINESS
May 26, 2005 | From Bloomberg News
The owners of merchandising rights for Winnie the Pooh characters, whose 14-year-old case against Walt Disney Co. was dismissed last year, asked a California appeals court to reinstate their case. A Los Angeles superior court judge tossed Stephen Slesinger Inc.'s lawsuit last year after concluding that the family-owned company illegally obtained evidence from Disney's trash. That ruling spared Burbank-based Disney the loss of its top-earning character and hundreds of millions in damages.
BUSINESS
February 9, 2007 | From Bloomberg News
Walt Disney Co. is facing a new legal front in its battle over the right to the Winnie the Pooh characters. Stephen Slesinger Inc., which owns the merchandising rights to the characters and traces its stake to a 1930 agreement with Pooh creator A.A. Milne, is seeking to cancel the U.S. trademarks of 25 Pooh-related names obtained by Disney since 1996. Disney "was not the owner of the registered marks at the time that these filings were made," Slesinger said of the trademark applications.