Walt Disney Co. has controlled the rights to Winnie-the-Pooh since 1961 and kept depictions of Milne's talking animals true to the spirit of the family-friendly material. The copyright expired in January 2022. Since then, Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends have been available to the public for other purposes.
In the US, copyrights hold a time stamp of 95 years – in the UK, it's 70 years. Milne's book Winnie the Pooh was published in 1926 which, under US copyright law, makes it public domain at the beginning of 2022.
Takeaway: Under existing U.S. copyright law, Winnie the Pooh now belongs to the public domain. A.A. Milne initially developed a talking yellow bear in 1924, but the Winnie the Pooh character as we know him first appeared publicly in 1926.
Is the original Winnie-the-Pooh book public domain?
Winnie-the-Pooh was published on 14 October 1926 by Methuen & Co. in England and E. P. Dutton in the United States. As a work first published in 1926, the book entered the public domain in the United States on 1 January 2022.
Aspects of Pooh's appearance like his red shirt remain trademarked by Disney, even if the character itself isn't. This is due to differences in American law between trademark and copyright. Copyright can never be reintroduced but trademarks can be applied for and renewed.
But on January 1, 2022, Winnie-the-Pooh entered the public domain, as did the characters it contained, which gave writer/director Rhys Frake-Waterfield the legal permission to make his low-budget slasher Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey.
The public owns the work, not its creator, which essentially means people can do with it what they want. For example, they can write stories using the characters, they can make movies about them, they can paint pictures of them, and they can sell stuff they make using them.
Many classic creations will be following in Winnie the Pooh's footsteps and entering the public domain in the next few years. In addition to Winnie the Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore have already been released into the public domain. Following them, Tigger's copyright protection is set to lapse in 2024.
Any future iterations of Mickey Mouse – including any showing Mickey Mouse in color – are still under Disney's control. But the copyright on the Steamboat-Willie-version will run out in 2024 after 95 years. Initially, copyrights only lasted 28 years.
How long a copyright lasts—and thus keeps an IP out of the public domain—differs by country. But in the U.S., it's 95 years for most IP created before 1978 (see more on this below), and Pooh had run out that clock, meaning that now anyone can make content featuring the lovable, or otherwise, bear.
On Jan. 1, 2022, numerous works entered the public domain, including A.A. Milne's original Winnie-the Pooh stories. Although Disney's version of Pooh is protected by copyright, the company no longer exclusively owns the rights to Winnie the Pooh.
The 18th of January is the International Winnie the Pooh Day. The well-renowned work about the honey-loving teddy bear Winnie the Pooh by A.A Milne is protected by copyright in Europe and was protected by copyright in the US until midnight on New Year's Eve 2021-2022.
In 1928, copyrights lasted for 28 years, with the option for renewal of another 28 years. As of 2023, Mickey Mouse was published almost 95 years ago. The copyright of the original Mickey Mouse character – as it appeared in “Steamboat Willie” – expires on January 1, 2024.
In truth, the earliest version of Mickey Mouse, which first appeared in the 1928 landmark animated short Steamboat Willie, will be entering the public domain when the film's copyright expires in 2024.
The American copyright of the novel expired on January 1, 2022, while in Austria and other countries of the European Union it entered the public domain on January 1, 2016.
Good news, folks, Winnie the Pooh is public domain now, meaning you can use the character from A.A. Milne and Ernest Hemingway's classic 1926 novel in stories, merch and more.
Although Disney still owns the rights to the animated cartoon versions of Pooh Bear and company, A.A. Milne's 1926 book Winnie-the-Pooh entered the public domain on Jan. 1, 2022.
Generally, copyright protection lasts for the length of the author's life plus another 70 years. In the case of joint works, copyright protection lasts for the length of the life of the last surviving joint author plus another 70 years.
Why did Disney allow Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey?
That first book found Christopher Robin playing with Pooh, Piglet, Owl, and Eyore (crucially, Tigger did not come along until 1928's The House at Pooh Corner). So when the original book entered the public domain, it became legal for anyone to reprint Winnie-the-Pooh or use elements as they see fit.
The beloved mouse that is nearly a century old will soon enter public domain — the original Mickey Mouse's copyright expires in 2024. This anthropomorphic mouse is recognizable even by the silhouette of his ears and, in some ways, has been the face of The Walt Disney Co. since his 1928 creation.
Winnie The Pooh is a Disney copyrighted character, and as such can't be used for commercial purposes without acquiring the proper rights for it. The images available on Etsy that you mention, even if they say they are for personal use, are infringing the law.
To be clear—and contrary to some of the breathless headlines I've been reading—Dr. Seuss has not been “canceled.” DSE is a private company that owns the copyrights in the works of its namesake author, and it alone made the decision to voluntarily stop printing and licensing the books.
Disney acquired the rights to the Winnie-the-Pooh books and their characters from Milne's estate back in 1961 and Disney has turned the franchise into a multibillion-dollar industry. Now, Disney won't be able to sue anyone that uses A.A. Milne's original Winnie-the-Pooh stories.
