We start a new year with very curious news, because yesterday it was announced that Winnie the Pooh no longer belongs to Disney. That’s right, the lovable teddy bear entered the public domain after spending almost 100 years protected by US copyright laws.
This has very important implications, but things are not as simple as we might think, because when are laws simple?
The public domain and intellectual property
Intellectual property protection laws vary from country to country. For example, in the United States, works are protected for 95 years, while in Mexico, the protection is 100 years. Once this time has elapsed, the works enter the public domain, that is, anyone can use them without having to pay legal fees to any company, since they no longer belong to a particular company.
When works are 95 years old, they can be shared legally, without permission or fee.
So technically anyone can publish stories, books, paintings, etc. that contain the character of Winnie the Pooh without infringing the laws of copyright. But, beware, the case of our favorite bear is very peculiar, since the image we know and love – the yellow bear with his red shirt – does belong to Disney.
So what can you do with Winnie the Pooh?
What entered the public domain are the characters and the story that AA Milne published in 1926. However, some characters, such as Tigger and Topo, are still not free to use, since Tigger was only introduced to the stories in 1928 and Topo is an original Disney invention.
If a person wants to incorporate Winnie the Pooh into an original story that they plan to publish, they can do so without any problem. In addition, you can make movies, series, stories, etc., in which the character appears, of course, with a different image from the one we already know or based on the story of AA Milne.
Other works that entered the public domain
Winnie The Pooh It is not the only work that Disney lost this year, since the story of Bambi, the lovable deer, also entered the public domain. The conditions are the same as in the case of Winnie the Pooh, since the image and adaptations of Bambi that we know remain the property of Disney.
A very interesting thing is that, little by little, all these famous and profitable works are going to enter the public domain. For example, Mickey Mouse, the quintessential image of Disney, will cease to belong to them in 2024. Interestingly, Disney was going to lose the rights to the little mouse when he turned 75 years old, but the company managed to get 20 more years.