Responding to Disney's motion, Slesinger's lawyers drew attention to the destruction of up to a million pages of business records by Disney, for which Judge Hiroshige punished them with sanctions last year. Some of these documents were destroyed as late as 1998, long after the family had requested their production. Just as Disney's response to the lawyers' brief was due, instead of filing their motion, Disney tried to start the case anew before a different judge in a different court by seeking the move to the federal system.

"Disney is losing the case and resorting to desperate acts. First, they kept a seal on the case for a decade. Now, with a trial date finally scheduled for September 24, Disney is using the Federal Court system to delay further having to account for what they owe the Slesinger family," said Lonnie Soury, a spokesman for the family.

In its Notice of Removal filed on April 25, Disney acknowledged the "unusual" nature of its attempt to transfer the case. In November, Disney had filed a federal copyright suit along with Claire Milne, heir of A.A. Milne, seeking the court's blessing on an attempt to end the Slesinger family's rights and reassign them to Disney. In court documents, the Slesingers argued that this attempt was both a scheme by Disney to manipulate Claire Milne, who is severely disabled and said to be unable to understand business matters, and an effort by Disney to "forum-shop" for a court in which Disney might get better results than it can in state court. The Slesinger family's motion to dismiss the copyright action is scheduled for a hearing on May 5 in Central District Federal Court in Los Angeles.

"From the very beginning, Disney has gone to extraordinary lengths to delay, distract and destroy, all to avoid having to come clean on its accounting of its most profitable character," said Soury.

Pooh is estimated to be worth between $3 billion and $6 billion in annual revenue to Disney, representing a significant portion of its total annual revenue of $25 billion. The Slesinger family has asked for a judgment that would include compensatory damages of at least $700 million, unspecified punitive damages, and the right to terminate all future rights of Disney to exploit Winnie-the-Pooh characters.

The President of SSI, Shirley Slesinger Lasswell, is the 79-year old widow of the founder and licensing pioneer Stephen Slesinger. He teamed up with Pooh author A.A. Milne and illustrator E.H. Shepard in the 1930's to expand Pooh beyond the confines of his books.

Mrs. Lasswell took over the family business after her husband died, and developed a successful nationwide licensing program for Pooh, which attracted the attention of Walt Disney himself. In 1961, after 30 years of promoting the Pooh stories and building the Pooh brand, she granted television, trademark, and other commercial rights for the Pooh characters and stories to Disney. In return, Milne and Slesinger were promised a share of gross revenues generated by Pooh products and services worldwide from Disney and its sublicensees.

Source: Slesinger Family