Disney and the honeypot

The widow and daughter of Stephen Slesinger, who acquired the rights to A.A. Milne's Winnie The Pooh in 1929, are taking Walt Disney Co to court over royalty payments.

The Slesingers claim that Disney, which acquired the merchandising rights to {the bear of very little brain{ in 1961, have short changed them to the tune of $35million by failing to report $3billion in Pooh-related revenues since 1983.

Much of the revenue came from the sales of computer software, DVDs and videos, according to the Slesingers, while the family's lawyers maintain that Disney turned over $4.5billion of Pooh merchandise alone last year.

Disney, which renewed its main contract with Milne's estate for an estimated $350million in March this year, is meant to pay the Slesinger family a 1.2% royalty on merchandise sales

At issue is an audit of Disney's books performed by a court-appointed forensic accountant, Michael Miswkei, who said that the family’s $3billion claim appeared to be inflated in the sample years of 1988 and 1994.

With the Slesingers arguing that a new audit should be instituted, Californian court judge Ernest Hiroshige is expected to decide shortly whether the present audit results stand.

The case is expected to go to trial early next year.