TOTAL LICENSING
Industry Reacts to the Ongoing War in Ukraine
Licensing industry charity,The Light Fund has made a donation of £5,000 to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. www.lightfund.org
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Global companies in and connected with the licensing industry have made statements and business-related reactions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As many western countries impose sanctions on Russia, giants such as Disney and WarnerMedia have announced that they will not be distributing their latest movies in Russia, including The Batman. The global outrage following Russia’s devastating invasion has been swift, with sanctions imposed almost immediately by governments around the world, and media, toy and manufacturing companies have reacted with similar speed. BBC, ITV and others have stopped all content licensing in Russia. Banijay has frozen all Russian business activities. Apple and Ford are also dialling back operations in the country. Netflix announced that it would stop streaming in Russia. Russian state media has been blocked or censored by Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and others. Facebook-parent Meta announced it would block access to Russian news outlets RT and Sputnik across the EU. Twitter is ‘reducing visibility’ of Russian state media content. The Ukrainian Association of Toy Industry President Pavel Ovchynnikov released this statement with a call to action: “The Ukrainian Association of Toy Industry appeals to all leading world toys manufacturers around the world
with a request to stop sales and shipments of top world toy brands to Russian companies. Join the companies who ignore and cancel the country run by the Aggressor and Occupant. The cooperation with Russians has already stopped by the car manufacturers with the world wide known brands: Audi, Volkswagen, BMW and other car concerns as well as US tech company Intel, Chinese Lenovo and Ukrainian Jooble platform. Block by ignoring and cancel the country-aggressor! Support the children of the Ukrainian defenders!!! We are waiting! Make your choice!” The LEGO Group was the first major international toy company to make a statement, announcing it was pausing shipments and had made a multimillion dollar donation to emergency relief efforts with a focus on children and families. “We care deeply about the lasting impact on children and together with the LEGO Foundation and Ole Kirk’s Fond, we will donate DKK 110 million (approx. USD 16.5 million) to emergency relief efforts, with a focus on providing support for children and families. The donation will be made to existing partners, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Save the Children, and the Danish Red Cross,” reads and excerpt from the statement, The Pokémon company announced it has made an immediate donation of $200,000 to Global Giving’s Relief Fund. Other toy makers are follow-
ing suit with large donations, including MGA Entertainment. Playmobil has ceased all sales to Russia. Gaming companies similarly have reacted swiftly with major players such as Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, EA, Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft and CD Projekt Red cutting off sales to Russian gamers. For ways to help, please see our recent article: https://www.totallicensing.com/ industry-reacts-to-escalatingsituation-in-ukraine/ Fears of Further Infringements After Russian Rulling A Russian court has ruled in favour of copyright infringement of Peppa Pig. Entertainment One had taken legal action against a Russian business owner who had drawn his own versions of Peppa Pig. The court ruled that the trademarks of Peppa Pig can be used by Russian businesses without punishment – leading to fears of further copyright infringements of brands owned by Western companies. In a move that has been widely named retaliatory against the Russian sanctions imposted by Western governments after its invasion of Ukraine, Judge Andrei Slavinsky cited “unfriendly actions of the United States of America and affiliated foreign countries” in their ruling.
