Darkbeer
02-20-2003, 12:08 PM
Bert Fields Press Release
California Supreme Court Denies Review Of Disney's Appeal On 'Pooh' Document Destruction
An Estimated Million Pages of Documents Destroyed in Case with Billions at Stake
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 20 -- The California Supreme Court yesterday rejected Disney's appeal of sanctions for destroying documents in the decade-long legal battle over Winnie-the-Pooh royalties. The ruling confirms that when the case goes to trial later this year, the jury will be instructed to accept as fact versions of events put forth by the Slesinger family, which granted the Pooh rights to Disney. "This means that Disney will be held accountable for the promises made to the family by Disney executives," said Bert Fields, lawyer for the Slesinger family. "They can shred, but they can't hide."
It is estimated that Disney destroyed over one million documents related to Winnie the Pooh, some as late as 1998, long after the family had requested their production.
Last November, the California Court of Appeals rejected Disney's appeal, stating, "the court found that Disney misused the pretrial discovery process by destroying evidence it knew or should have known was sought by SSI [Stephen Slesinger, Inc.], making false and evasive responses to SSI's discovery, and unduly delaying notification about the records destruction. The court found the records destruction was 'at least due to its [i.e., Disney's] gross negligence.'"
The most profitable of all the characters Disney markets, Pooh is estimated to be worth billions in annual revenue.
The plaintiff in the case is Shirley Slesinger Lasswell, the 79-year old widow of licensing pioneer Stephen Slesinger, who teamed up with Pooh author A. A. Milne and illustrator E.H. Shepherd in the 1930's to expand Pooh beyond the confines of his books.
After her husband died, Mrs. Lasswell extended Pooh product and service uses in the U.S. and Canada. In 1961, she granted Pooh rights to Walt Disney himself, and in return, Milne and Slesinger received a share of gross revenues generated by Pooh product and service uses worldwide.
California Supreme Court Denies Review Of Disney's Appeal On 'Pooh' Document Destruction
An Estimated Million Pages of Documents Destroyed in Case with Billions at Stake
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 20 -- The California Supreme Court yesterday rejected Disney's appeal of sanctions for destroying documents in the decade-long legal battle over Winnie-the-Pooh royalties. The ruling confirms that when the case goes to trial later this year, the jury will be instructed to accept as fact versions of events put forth by the Slesinger family, which granted the Pooh rights to Disney. "This means that Disney will be held accountable for the promises made to the family by Disney executives," said Bert Fields, lawyer for the Slesinger family. "They can shred, but they can't hide."
It is estimated that Disney destroyed over one million documents related to Winnie the Pooh, some as late as 1998, long after the family had requested their production.
Last November, the California Court of Appeals rejected Disney's appeal, stating, "the court found that Disney misused the pretrial discovery process by destroying evidence it knew or should have known was sought by SSI [Stephen Slesinger, Inc.], making false and evasive responses to SSI's discovery, and unduly delaying notification about the records destruction. The court found the records destruction was 'at least due to its [i.e., Disney's] gross negligence.'"
The most profitable of all the characters Disney markets, Pooh is estimated to be worth billions in annual revenue.
The plaintiff in the case is Shirley Slesinger Lasswell, the 79-year old widow of licensing pioneer Stephen Slesinger, who teamed up with Pooh author A. A. Milne and illustrator E.H. Shepherd in the 1930's to expand Pooh beyond the confines of his books.
After her husband died, Mrs. Lasswell extended Pooh product and service uses in the U.S. and Canada. In 1961, she granted Pooh rights to Walt Disney himself, and in return, Milne and Slesinger received a share of gross revenues generated by Pooh product and service uses worldwide.