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Forget Iraq. This Is Serious! Custody fight for 'Peter Pan'
Sometimes, one has to remember priorities.
U.S. copyright on classic has expired, lawsuit says
01/03/2003
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO – Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn't grow up, has been dragged into the adult world of federal court.
Canadian author Emily Somma has sued in San Francisco claiming the characters in Peter Pan – including Tinker Bell, Wendy and Captain Hook – are now in the public domain and no longer protected by a copyright awarded in 1929.
The suit is a pre-emptive move in anticipation of legal action by the British hospital that currently holds the copyright to Peter Pan.
The Great Ormand Street Hospital for Sick Children in London already has warned Ms. Somma to halt publication of After the Rain: A New Adventure for Peter Pan, which has been published in Canada and can be purchased through the Internet.
A lawyer for the hospital said Ms. Somma's efforts to publish a work without paying royalties is depriving the hospital of revenue it needs to treat sick children.
The Great Ormond Street Hospital said it was prepared to defend its copyright on the classic tale.
"The view we take is that J.M. Barrie gave us the copyright to support the work of the hospital. We're taking sensible precautions to defend that income. Therefore we're not terribly inclined to authorize this book which has been written without our permission. It's an important source of income."
Ms. Somma's lawyer, Elizabeth Rader, said the author offered to pay royalties but was rebuffed.
The copyright to Peter Pan and its characters was awarded by the original creator, Sir James M. Barrie, to the hospital in 1929. The play was written in 1904.
U.S. copyright protection for Barrie's works – also including The Little White Bird, a Peter Pan prototype written in 1902 – normally would have expired in 1987, a half-century after his death.
In a letter ordering Ms. Somma to halt publication of her book, the hospital's lawyer, Alvin Deutsch, contends that a 1976 U.S. law extended the copyright protection for Peter Pan until the year 2023.
Ms. Somma's lawyer disputes the logic and the math.
"They have a theory that spells out to that year," Ms. Rader said, "but I don't see how it adds up."
After the Rain, in which Peter Pan is brought home from Neverland to grow up, was published by Hamilton, Ontario-based Daisy Books.
"I wrote the book for children, I want it to be available to children," Ms. Somma said.
The Canadian edition largely went unnoticed until Ms. Somma began soliciting publishers in England, Ms. Rader said.
A British act of Parliament extended royalty rights there to the hospital in perpetuity; Peter Pan falls within the public domain in Canada.
"The hospital only has rights to royalties," Ms. Somma said. "They have no creative control over copyrights or content."
The London hospital has authorized a series of films based on the original book, including Walt Disney's 1953 animated Peter Pan and Hook, the Steven Spielberg adaptation of the classic tale of never-ending childhood.
Hospital lawyer Deutsch wrote in his letter to Ms. Somma that Disney has been authorized to produce several Peter Pan- related projects on the condition that the hospital reap a share of the royalties.
Mr. Deutsch could not immediately be reached for comment on the suit, which was filed last week.
U.S. copyright on classic has expired, lawsuit says
01/03/2003
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO – Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn't grow up, has been dragged into the adult world of federal court.
Canadian author Emily Somma has sued in San Francisco claiming the characters in Peter Pan – including Tinker Bell, Wendy and Captain Hook – are now in the public domain and no longer protected by a copyright awarded in 1929.
The suit is a pre-emptive move in anticipation of legal action by the British hospital that currently holds the copyright to Peter Pan.
The Great Ormand Street Hospital for Sick Children in London already has warned Ms. Somma to halt publication of After the Rain: A New Adventure for Peter Pan, which has been published in Canada and can be purchased through the Internet.
A lawyer for the hospital said Ms. Somma's efforts to publish a work without paying royalties is depriving the hospital of revenue it needs to treat sick children.
The Great Ormond Street Hospital said it was prepared to defend its copyright on the classic tale.
"The view we take is that J.M. Barrie gave us the copyright to support the work of the hospital. We're taking sensible precautions to defend that income. Therefore we're not terribly inclined to authorize this book which has been written without our permission. It's an important source of income."
Ms. Somma's lawyer, Elizabeth Rader, said the author offered to pay royalties but was rebuffed.
The copyright to Peter Pan and its characters was awarded by the original creator, Sir James M. Barrie, to the hospital in 1929. The play was written in 1904.
U.S. copyright protection for Barrie's works – also including The Little White Bird, a Peter Pan prototype written in 1902 – normally would have expired in 1987, a half-century after his death.
In a letter ordering Ms. Somma to halt publication of her book, the hospital's lawyer, Alvin Deutsch, contends that a 1976 U.S. law extended the copyright protection for Peter Pan until the year 2023.
Ms. Somma's lawyer disputes the logic and the math.
"They have a theory that spells out to that year," Ms. Rader said, "but I don't see how it adds up."
After the Rain, in which Peter Pan is brought home from Neverland to grow up, was published by Hamilton, Ontario-based Daisy Books.
"I wrote the book for children, I want it to be available to children," Ms. Somma said.
The Canadian edition largely went unnoticed until Ms. Somma began soliciting publishers in England, Ms. Rader said.
A British act of Parliament extended royalty rights there to the hospital in perpetuity; Peter Pan falls within the public domain in Canada.
"The hospital only has rights to royalties," Ms. Somma said. "They have no creative control over copyrights or content."
The London hospital has authorized a series of films based on the original book, including Walt Disney's 1953 animated Peter Pan and Hook, the Steven Spielberg adaptation of the classic tale of never-ending childhood.
Hospital lawyer Deutsch wrote in his letter to Ms. Somma that Disney has been authorized to produce several Peter Pan- related projects on the condition that the hospital reap a share of the royalties.
Mr. Deutsch could not immediately be reached for comment on the suit, which was filed last week.
It it horribly degrading to Native Americans and so should be condemned.
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