"Peppa Pig" won a copyright court battle against "Wolfu"

The High Court in London ordered the removal of all Wolfu videos for unauthorized use of Peppa Pig audio

The court ruled in favor of the rights owner of Peppa Pig, the company Hasbro, and requested that videos from the popular animation Wolfu be removed from YouTube and other social networks.

Copying judged to be widespread and long-running

Judge Smith emphasized that short audio clips were used in many episodes — including the shout "hooray!" — which constituted widespread and prolonged copying. According to the ruling, all videos featuring the character Wolfu must be removed no later than Monday.

The legal dispute began in 2022, when Hasbro filed a lawsuit against the owners of Wolfu, the company SKonect, claiming that the animation had misused audio material from the series and that this had created confusion among young audiences about an alleged connection with the world of Peppa Pig. The court analysis showed that audio recordings from Peppa Pig were found in all 92 analyzed videos in English and in 75 percent of the videos in other languages.

In defense, SKonect said that the disputed sounds had been supplied by external collaborators without their knowledge and that such materials had been removed from the channels. The court rejected these claims after forensic expertise determined systematic use.

The ruling will have a broader effect: the decision of the London court will be applied in European Union countries and in all 166 members of the World Trade Organization, including the United States and Vietnam. Legal experts assess this judgment as a significant precedent for protecting global brands from digital piracy.

Wolfu is a Vietnamese animation about a young wolf who lives with his family, whose online content gathered hundreds of millions of views. Hasbro initiated the legal action to stop, as it stated, the systematic reuse of audio materials from Peppa Pig.

Photo: FilmStills.net / Film Stills / Profimedia