Re: Peter Pan

According to William Patry's treatise Copyright Law and Practice (BNA 1994): "In 1988 Parliament granted the Hospital for Sick Children the right to receive royalties, without limitation as to duration, for 'the public performance, commercial publication, broadcasting or inclusion in a cable programming service' of Sir James Barrie's play 'Peter Pan,' even though copyright in the work had expired on December 31, 1987." He cites Section 301 of the UK Copyright, Designs and Patent Act of 1988.

Tyler T. Ochoa
Associate Professor
Whittier Law School

>>> DannyAnno1[_at_]aol.com 12/18/01 10:34PM >>>
I'm trying to get information about the Peter Pan copyright.

I understand that Sir James Matthew Barrie's will left the copyright to the Hospital, and that Parliament passed legislation to continue protecting Peter Pan after its copyright would normally have expired. However, I am unclear as to precisely what is protected under this law.  

We know Barrie chronicled the adventures of Peter Pan in four separate texts: the Peter Pan playscript, the novel Peter and Wendy (also called Peter Pan in present editions), Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, and The Little White Bird (the novel from which the Kensington Gardens material was adapted).  

I assume that Great Ormond Street Hospital receives royalties for all productions bearing the title Peter Pan,and for all printed editions of the play and the novel. But what about the two latter texts (Little White Bird and Kensington Gardens)? Are they too still protected under British copyright law?  

It occurs to me that even if The Little White Bird is in public domain the use of that text might still be restricted if the name Peter Pan is trademarked. Would it be legal to create a new work that borrowed elements of the Kensington Gardens material (for instance, the characters of Maimie and Tony) but used neither the name nor likeness of Peter Pan? Received on Thu Dec 20 2001 - 20:40:45 GMT