In a new horror movie, a bloodthirsty bear terrorizes a group of friends at a house in the woods. But this is not just any bear. This bear’s name is Winnie-the-Pooh.
Lesson summary
Hi there everyone, I’m Jeff and this is Plain English lesson number 541. At Plain English, we help you upgrade your English with lessons about current events and trending topics. By listening to a wide variety of topics, you’ll expand your vocabulary and you’ll be able to talk about the most important trends in the world with your friends and colleagues in English.
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Coming up today: I thought it was a sick joke, but we’re still more than three months away from April Fool’s Day. It’s not a joke, it’s true. A new horror movie—horror movie!—features the lovable, innocent children’s character Winnie-the-Pooh. On today’s lesson, I’ll tell you exactly what’s going on with that. In the second half of today’s lesson, I’ll also show you how to use the English phrasal verb “slim down.” Let’s get going.
Winnie-the-Pooh: An unlikely star in a new horror movie
In 1926, author A. A. Milne released a collection of stories about a fictional bear called Winnie-the-Pooh. The children’s stories tell about innocent adventures of Winnie, his human friend Christopher Robin, and his animal friends Piglet, Rabbit, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga, and Roo.
In one story, Winnie goes into Rabbit’s house, eats a huge feast, and then discovers he’s too fat to go out the door. Christopher helps him slim down enough to make it out.
In another story, Pooh and Piglet are following a mysterious set of footsteps in a circle around a tree, until Christopher points out that they’re just following their own footsteps. Ha, ha, good wholesome fun! The author created other books featuring Pooh and his friends. Disney licensed the rights to the characters in the 1960s and turned the stories into animated features.
But in none of A.A. Milne’s stories, and in no subsequent Disney film, does Pooh or Piglet murder any other character. They don’t write threatening messages on windows in blood. They don’t run around with sledgehammers. So you might have been surprised to see the trailer for a new horror movie. It’s called “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey.”
What is going on here?
Under American law, the copyright on works of fiction lasts for 95 years. In Britain, copyright lasts for 70 years after the owner’s death. After the copyright runs out , the works are in the public domain. And that means that anyone can re-produce the drawings and stories. And anyone can create their own stories based on those characters.
Today is January 26, 2023. It’s 96 years after A.A. Milne’s first story came out. So that means Winnie-the-Pooh is now in the public domain.
This is not as unusual as it sounds. Every year, the copyright on some creative works expires. Until now, however, those works have mostly been literature. When a book enters the public domain, a few things become possible.
First, anyone can reproduce the text and sell a copy of the book, without paying any royalties. That’s why you can buy copies of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” for such low prices on Amazon. And second, anyone can write new stories using the characters. Those are called derivative works.
For example, the British copyright on books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ran out in the early 2000’s. Shortly thereafter, a slew of television shows and movies used Sherlock Holmes and his friend, Watson, as characters.
The Great Gatsby entered the public domain in 2021. That same year, we were treated to a new novel featuring Jay Gatsby as a vampire.
Literature has been around a lot longer than motion-picture films have, so a lot well-known novels have entered the public domain. Not so for movies. Movies are a much newer artform, and fewer of those have lost their copyrights.
But that is about to change. Next year, the copyright will expire on a movie called “Steamboat Willie.” You might not recognize that title. But you surely recognize the main character: Mickey Mouse.
In the next decade, the 2030s, Disney will lose the copyright to “Snow White,” “Bambi,” and “Fantasia.” In 2034, the first Superman stories will be in the public domain. The first Batman stories will follow a year later.
But that doesn’t mean it will be open season on Mickey Mouse, Batman, and other characters—at least not right away.
Let’s look at one example. If you close your eyes and think of Pooh bear, you might picture him wearing a red shirt. That’s what he wore in the Disney animations. But in the A.A. Milne stories, Winnie-the-Pooh didn’t wear a red shirt, and it’s the Milne stories that are entering the public domain.
Disney didn’t add the red shirt until the 1966. So anyone making a derivative work of Winnie-the-Pooh can’t show him in a red shirt—at least not for a few decades. Tigger, one of Pooh’s friends, didn’t appear until a second Milne book, so that character is still under copyright.
It’s a similar story with Mickey. The early drawings of Mickey Mouse are not the same as the Mickey you probably picture today. “Steamboat Willie” was in black and white, and Mickey didn’t wear gloves.
Here’s something else. Don’t expect Disney to give up Mickey’s image without a fight. That’s because there are other rights involved besides copyright. The copyright to “Steamboat Willie” might expire, but Disney will probably argue that the image of Mickey Mouse is part of the company’s trademark.
A trademark is an image a company uses to identify itself with the public—like a logo or a cartoon. Unlike copyrights, trademarks last forever. Expect Disney to fiercely defend Mickey’s image as part of its trademark. In other words , anyone who wants to sell a t-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it should be ready for a fight from Disney’s lawyers.
Still, Hollywood will have to get used to seeing derivative works produced by others. That will be an uncomfortable adjustment for studios and fans alike. A lot of fans were bothered by the new Winnie-the-Pooh movie. And if you’re not a fan of “Blood and Honey,” then you probably won’t like the producers’ next project. That’s going to be a horror film about Peter Pan, who will fly into the public domain next year.
Pooh a murderer?
Winnie-the-Pooh is a murderer! I still can’t believe this!
Here’s a prediction. As the copyrights for famous works grows closer , studios will flood the zone with sequels and re-makes, trying to squeeze every last dollar out of their intellectual property.
Studios probably can’t complain too loudly about remakes and derivative works—that is Hollywood’s stock in trade. After all, the movie “A Star is Born” has been made four times.
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