Shirley Slesinger Lasswell ( English Shirley Slesinger Lasswell , 1923-2007) - American entrepreneur, who became widely known thanks to the lawsuit on copyright for Winnie the Pooh [1] .
| Shirley Schlesinger Lasswell | |
|---|---|
| Shirley slesinger lasswell | |
| Birth name | Shirley Ann Basso |
| Date of Birth | May 27, 1923 |
| Place of Birth | Detroit , Michigan , USA |
| Date of death | July 19, 2007 (84 years old) |
| Place of death | Beverly Hills , California , USA |
| Citizenship |  USA |
| Occupation | entrepreneur |
| Spouse | 1) Stephen Schlesinger (1948-1953, the death of her husband) 2) Fred Lasswell (1964-2001, the death of her husband) |
Biography
Shirley Ann Basso was born in Detroit in 1923 [1] , her parents were Michael Basso and Clara Louise Lysia. Shirley had one sister, Patricia Jane (Basso) Cornell. Shirley began her career on the Broadway musical comedies of . During World War II, Shirley spent 30 months on recreational tours of military bases and army hospitals in Europe and the Pacific [1] . In 1947, while working in Broadway theaters , Shirley met radio and television producer Steven Schlesinger [1] and married him in 1948. Witnesses at their wedding were actress Clara Bow and her husband, actor . The Schlesinger spouses lived in New York and on their ranch in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where Stephen was engaged in producing westerns and organizing summer programs for the city's youth. Their marriage lasted until Stephen's death in 1953.
In 1964, Shirley married Fred Lasswell [1] , the famous cartoonist and inventor, comic book author Barney Google and Snuffy Smith ( Barney Google and Snuffy Smith ). Lasswell also invented the first combine for harvesting citrus fruits and developed creative educational programs for schools. Their marriage lasted until the death of Fred Lasswell in 2001 [1] .
Winnie the Pooh Copyright Process
Steven Schlesinger during his career has created many brands and trademarks of literary characters and cartoon characters, among which was the Winnie the Pooh bear. According to the agreement between Schlesinger and the author of books about Winnie the Pooh Alexander Milne , starting in 1930 Milne received 3% of the sales volume and from 15 to 50% of other deductions from the commercialization of the image of Winnie the Pooh. At the same time, Schlesinger received exclusive rights to the character’s image and the reproduction of his name in connection with goods and services, as well as all media (television, radio and any other future devices that reproduce sound and images). Along with the rights to the image of Winnie the Pooh, the agreement included exclusive rights to other characters in Milne’s books, such as Christopher Robin , Eeyore , Tiger and Owl .
Stephen Schlesinger died in 1953, leaving his wife Shirley with her one-year-old daughter Pati. [2] In 1956, Shirley took over the management of the company of her late husband Stephen Slesinger, Inc , including marketing and trading Winnie the Pooh licenses, along with other characters. She later said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times : “I thought:“ And what should I do now? ”But it was right for me. I decided to promote Pooh ” [2] .
Shirley launched the production of numerous products with the symbols of Winnie the Pooh, such as clothes, toys and dolls, which were sold in American department stores in the 1950s [2] , and also began to promote these products in other markets. After meeting Walt Disney , founder and head of The Walt Disney Company [1] , Shirley signed the first of two [1] licensing agreements in 1961 that granted Walt Disney Company exclusive television rights in exchange for royalties. [2]
In 1981, Shirley Lasswell considered that she did not receive royalties for most of the products with the symbols of Winnie the Pooh, and hired a lawyer. In 1991, Shirley and her daughter filed a lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company, accusing her of violating the terms of the contract and fraud. According to marketers, thanks to the efforts of the Walt Disney Company during the 1990s, the "Winnie the Pooh industry" brought this company about $ 1 billion a year [2] . Since the beginning of the 1980s, the Walt Disney Company has paid the Lasswell family about $ 100 million. 12 law firms were involved in the Lasswell v. Walt Disney Company trial [2] , and in 2004 the trial ended in favor of the Walt Disney Company, although the company was punished for destroying more than 40 boxes of relevant documents.
Shirley Lasswell died of pneumonia in her Beverly Hills home in 2007 [2] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Shirley Slesinger Lasswell , The Associated Press , Legacy.com (July 20, 2007). Date of treatment August 7, 2007.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Nelson, Valerie J .. Shirley Slesinger Lasswell; fought over Pooh royalties , The Los Angeles Times , Boston Globe (July 21, 2007). Date of treatment August 7, 2007.