According to Solicitors Journal, after nearly four years of proceedings, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled in favor of Hasbro and Astley Baker Davies Ltd in a copyright infringement lawsuit against Sconnect, the Vietnamese company producing the animated series Wolfoo, on 25/6.

The lawsuit was filed in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales in 2022 by Hasbro, the US entertainment conglomerate that owns the rights to the Peppa Pig brand, and Astley Baker Davies Ltd, the studio that co-created the series. The plaintiffs alleged that numerous Wolfoo videos illegally used short sound recordings from Peppa Pig, primarily dialogue from Peppa and her family members, including exclamations like "Hooray!".

Judge Richard Smith concluded that many Wolfoo videos used sound recordings copyrighted by Peppa Pig. The court examined 92 English-language Wolfoo videos and determined that all contained audio segments from Peppa Pig. For videos in other languages, similar audio segments appeared in approximately 75% of the videos tested.

The judge stated that the copying was "extensive, appearing to be prevalent at least in the English-language Wolfoo videos." He also assessed the evidence of copying the audio segments as "compelling." The judge ordered the removal of all videos featuring Wolfoo characters from online platforms, including YouTube, by 4 p.m. on 3/8 London time (which is 10 p.m. on the same day Hanoi time).

In this ruling, the court only addressed the claim related to the copyright of Peppa Pig's sound recordings. Other issues in the lawsuit, such as allegations of "character design" and "unfair competition," were not within the scope of this judgment. The court also has not yet decided on all remedies and litigation costs. Under UK procedural law, parties may still seek permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Animated characters Peppa Pig (left) and Wolfoo (right). Photo: Sconnect/Hasbro

According to the Guardian on 29/7, Sconnect's representative, the producer of Wolfoo, denied the allegations. The company's representative explained that videos produced before mid-2020 containing audio from Peppa Pig were due to an independent contractor's unauthorized use, unknown to or unpermitted by Sconnect. For videos made after that period, Sconnect stated that the audio was produced by its own team.

Sconnect confirmed it has removed the videos identified as infringing copyright. During the proceedings, the company also objected to the application of the video removal order in the UK, the European Union, and 166 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO), including the US and Vietnam, arguing that the scope of the order was "too broad."

However, the court rejected Sconnect's argument regarding third-party responsibility. The judge found that invoking an independent contractor did not change the conclusion about the use of copyrighted audio segments. The court also dismissed Sconnect's argument that videos after mid-2020 only used audio produced by the company itself.

By 6/8, Wolfoo's YouTube channels had removed videos posted before the ruling and were only uploading new content. Sconnect has not yet issued an official response to the court's decision.

Sconnect, a Vietnamese content creation company established in 2014, developed the animated wolf character Wolfoo. The eponymous series, launched in 2018, revolves around a small wolf living with his family. The series targets children aged two to seven, is released in English, and dubbed into many languages, including Arabic, Chinese, French, and Spanish. Episodes posted on YouTube, YouTube Kids, and the Wolfoo World website have attracted hundreds of millions of views.

Peppa Pig is a British animated series for preschoolers, created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker, who co-founded Astley Baker Davies studio to produce it. The series premiered on 31/5/2004 and is currently distributed in over 180 countries and territories. Initially, Astley Baker Davies produced Peppa Pig, with Entertainment One (eOne) later managing, distributing, and exploiting the brand. In 2019, the US entertainment conglomerate Hasbro acquired eOne, thereby taking over the rights to Peppa Pig. From the eighth season, Karrot Animation and Hasbro Entertainment have produced the series.

The copyright dispute between the two popular series, Wolfoo and Peppa Pig, began in late 2021 after eOne filed complaints against Wolfoo videos on YouTube. The two parties subsequently sued each other in Russia, the UK, and Vietnam. This led to the deletion of over 4,000 Wolfoo videos and the disabling of new video posting functionality on many YouTube channels, including one with 12 million followers and billions of views.

YouTube later restored some videos, but many others continued to be removed. Parallel to the UK lawsuit, Sconnect also accused eOne of "misrepresenting" its ownership of Peppa Pig by sending copyright complaints to YouTube despite having transferred ownership to Hasbro. Sconnect simultaneously accused YouTube of "groundlessly" removing videos. According to Sconnect's representative, these measures caused the company approximately one million USD in damages each month.

In 2022, Sconnect received a favorable outcome in a dispute with Entertainment One (eOne), the former owner of Peppa Pig, in Russia. eOne had accused Wolfoo of being a remake of Peppa Pig and using the company's distinctive art style and sounds. The Moscow court allowed eOne to withdraw its lawsuit and later partially granted Sconnect's request for litigation cost compensation. Cat Tien