topic Re: Copyright Winnie the Pooh in Ask a Question

Copyright Winnie the Pooh

Svetlana — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 05:34:42 GMT

I see Winnie the Pooh invitation designs on the site. I want to draw Winnie the Pooh and use it to create children's invitations. Is this a copyright infringement?

Re: Copyright Winnie the Pooh

PenguinPower — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 06:33:27 GMT

It’s complicated… the original Pooh has passed into the public domain, but that’s only as pertains to copyright. Trademarks are handled differently and many Pooh related things will still be off limits. This article explains it pretty extensively and will probably make your head spin.

Pooh law blog post

Re: Copyright Winnie the Pooh

LMGildersleeve — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 13:35:37 GMT

In simple terms... just avoid Winnie the Pooh to avoid any problems.

Re: Copyright Winnie the Pooh

idraw — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 16:06:48 GMT

@Svetlana
If you read the linked article, there are trademark issues involved, which is where things get complicated. Best to avoid using Winnie thePooh, lawyers are expensive.

Re: Copyright Winnie the Pooh

PenguinPower — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 16:06:53 GMT

BTW - nearly all of the Pooh merchandize that is in the marketplace right now is posted by Disney - who currently owns the rights to the Pooh trademarks and remaining Pooh copyrights ( example - Tigger is still under copyright presently).

There's a handful not posted by them and is either Milne quotes with no images or is original style Pooh and may be safe. At least one violates a trademark mentioned in the article and just hasn't been noticed yet..