Pay up, Pooh: The Chicago Tribune (registration required) reports on the latest chapter in a 13-year-old battle between the Walt Disney Co. and Shirley Slesinger Lasswell over the merchandising rights to Winnie the Pooh. Disney had acquired the rights in 1961 from Lasswell, who had inherited them from her late husband who, in turn, had purchased them in 1930 from Pooh creator A.A. Milne:

"Over the years, Disney paid the Slesinger family more than $66 million in royalties; Disney's marketing machine roared into gear in the mid-1990s, turning the befuddled bear into a $1-billion-a-year business at its peak.

"Shirley Slesinger Lasswell and her daughter Patricia Slesinger became suspicious that the company wasn't paying all they should. Patricia Slesinger said Pooh products she purchased during her travels around the world didn't always show up on royalty statements."

The Baltimore Sun has a shorter report on the lawsuit.