Entertainment One UK (eOne), the owner of Peppa Pig, is locked in a global dispute with Vietnamese company Sconnect, which operates children’s YouTube channels such as Wolfoo, another cartoon character.
The dispute started with a UK High Court copyright dispute brought by eOne and has expanded to include trademarks, unfair competition complaints in the Hanoi Peoples Court, and a side dispute in Russia.
The case started when eOne claimed in Russia that Wolfoo was a Peppa Pig remake. eOne struggled to show this, with experts siding with Sconnect. The EU filed complaints with YouTube, leading to the blocking of Sconnect’s Wolfoo videos by YouTube. Sconnect has therefore filed unfair competition complaints in Vietnam with the National Competition Commission.
The latest twist is that Hasbro has sold eOne, including Peppa Pig, to Lionsgate. The dispute shows the importance of YouTube e-commerce to content companies.
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