Now Russia is sanctioning Peppa Pig as a court ruled that the trademark of the beloved children’s cartoon could be infringed amid ‘restrictive’ Western measures, paving the way for massive copyright infringement
- Russian Judge Rules Allowing Western Firms to Infringe Copyrights
- Judge Andrei Slavinsky said iconic images can be used without punishment
- “Peppa Pig” will continue to be shown in Moscow, despite the call from Entertainment One, the creator of the cartoon, to ban the show in Russia due to sanctions.
Russia has taken the surprising decision to sanction beloved Peppa Pig and Daddy Pig cartoon characters as the crisis deepens over Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
The court ruled that the trademarks of world famous images could be flouted with impunity in Russia in retaliation for British sanctions against Moscow.
Entertainment One, the company behind Peppa Pig, said it was owed about 40,000 Russian rubles for copyright infringement, but recalcitrant Russian lawmakers denied the claim.
The ruling by Judge Andrei Slavinsky in the regional arbitration court in Kirov could pave the way for massive abuse of Western trademarks and copyrights, allowing Russia to defy copyright laws by dismissing infringement claims.
Judge Slavinsky said that “restrictive” political and economic sanctions by the West in connection with the military invasion of Ukraine allowed the court to dismiss the infringement claims brought by Entertainment One UK Ltd.
Russia will continue to allow the use of patented inventions, industrial designs and utility models from “unfriendly countries”, namely the US and the UK, due to the collapse of relations after Putin’s invasion.
Russia will continue to allow the use of patented inventions, industrial designs and utility models from “unfriendly countries”, namely the US and the UK, due to the collapse of relations after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Entertainment One, the company behind Peppa Pig, claimed it was owed about 40,000 Russian rubles for copyright infringement, but their claims were refuted by brash Russian lawmakers.
In 2019, US multinational corporation Hasbro acquired the British preschool animated series in a $3.8 billion deal with Entertainment One.
According to legal documents in the Kirov case, the court’s ruling links the copyright infringement claim against Peppa Pig and Papa Pig to “unfriendly actions by the United States of America and its affiliated foreign states.”
Sanctions against Russia allow the court not to defend the trademark rights of the British company, the judge said amid suspicions that the case was used by Moscow authorities as a weapon against Western sanctions.
The Entertainment One case in sleepy Kirov — 595 miles northeast of Moscow — alleged an “abuse of right.”
A little-known case was brought against businessman Ivan Kozhevnikov to protect the rights to the trademark of drawings of favorite children’s cartoons.
At the hearing, the judge appeared to be well versed in the nuances of recent sanctions developments.
The British company can appeal the strange decision against its claim for around £400 in damages for the illegal copying of its images.
The British company behind Peppa Pig, the beloved children’s cartoon, may be appealing the bizarre decision against its claim for around £400 in damages for illegally copying its images.
By the time the case was heard, the value of the claim had fallen to £230 due to the sharp fall in Putin’s ruble caused by the war in Ukraine.
The decision is seen as revenge on Western patent offices that cut their ties with Russia because of the Ukrainian crisis.
The company has previously enjoyed success in Russia for its claims.
The Kirov case is one of numerous cases of violation of the rights of Peppa and Daddy Pig, initiated in Russia from the UK, including several cases in Siberia.
Russians may have known about Boris Johnson’s admiration for Peppa Pig after his bizarre November speech to the Confederation of British Industry.
Speaking of a theme park in Hampshire, he told astonished businessmen, “Yesterday I went, like the rest of us, to the world of Peppa Pig…
‘I love it. I really like Peppa Pig World: there are very safe streets, discipline in schools.”
He continued, losing his place in his speech: “Who would have thought that a pig that looks like a hair dryer or maybe a Picasso hair dryer, a pig that was rejected by the BBC, will now be exported to 180 countries with theme parks in America and China?
This decision could provoke a wider spread of trademark abuse, as was the case in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.