Winnie Pooh is part of the public domain in the United States

Winnie Pooh, Piglet and Christopher Robin are important and worldwide known characters, property of Disney. The franchise is considered as one of the most mediatic and successful of all time.

The stories of Winne the Pooh, written by Alan Alexandre Milne, were published for the first time in 1926 and Disney acquired its rights in1961. Nevertheless, since January 1, 2022, Milne s stories are part of the public domain in the United States, since in accordance with the legislation of such country, the rights are valid for 95 years.

lt is important to bear in mind that, even though, such rights over the books and characters are now of public domain in the United States, there are still in force several rights that continue to be owned by Disney, and such company owns copyrights for other stories and characters that they created directly.

This means that they still own the image of the character that the public recognizes, such as a bear, with a red t-shirt, with a belly. Such character will continue to be used by Disney only. Likewise, the animated movies that were produced by Disney maintains its corresponding copyrights.

Therefore, in the United States, some characters, may be part of a new animated movie that is not produced by Disney, as long as the image and characteristics of the characters are not copied.

Thus, any person can create a version of a story of Winnie the Pooh, but without using the image and main characteristics of the bear that is widely known.

lt is also important to point out that each country has its own regulations, and this type of copyrights are in force for a different period, depending on the country.

For example, in Mexico, the validity for a copyright is the life of the author plus 100 years counted as from the date of its death.

The fictitious characters and their physic and psychological characteristics are protected in Mexico through a figure called ”Reserva”. This kind of figure is valid for 5 years, same that can be renewed indefenetly for equal periods.

In light of the above, the fact that some of the rights of the stories of Winnie the Pooh are now part of the public domain in the United States, does not mean that such condition is extended for all the world and if in some countries there are rights that are still in force, such rights must be respected in each jurisdiction.

If there is interest in using a character, story, image or any rights in Mexico, USA or any other country, it is advisable to contact an expert for analyzing the legal grounds and possible contingencies.