Astrid Lindgren and Copyright
All the material on the website www.astridlindgren.com (www.astridlindgren.se) is protected by copyright. So you are not permitted to copy, reproduce, publish or in any other way use and/or disseminate material from this website. This applies to all material – pictures, photographs, illustrations, texts, graphics, screen-dumps, etc.
The only exceptions are items which have been put there expressly for the purpose of downloading and/or copying, and in those cases will be clearly stated.
Should you wish to use material from this website, you are welcome to contact the respective photographer, illustrator or author. As regards any other texts, we ask you to contact Saltkråkan AB (see below).
Are you allowed to act out the role of Pippi if you don’t charge any money?
Can anyone use Astrid Lindgren’s characters as they please in a drama production, for example?
Is a school class permitted to make a film about Ronia if it’s only going to be viewed by family and friends? Can you have a Pippi character as a games organiser in a public place to make it attractive for children?
The answer is a definite NO!
There is only one original and neither the characters nor the stories may be changed or turn up in some different context. The characters exist in the books, the films and sometimes in the theatre, but nowhere else. Regardless of whether you charge or earn money from the idea or not.
Every author, artist, composer or other creative person is the originator. Such a person has the right to decide how his/her literary or artistic works are to be used. This is why we have copyright laws.
The originator can for example allow or forbid that a certain work be spread or printed. The law of copyright applies for the duration of the originator’s life and for 70 years after his/her death.
Astrid Lindgren passed away in 2002 and the copyright to all her books and texts published in any other form are today owned by her heirs, through the company Saltkråkan AB.
Copyright law provides not only financial protection but also protects the work from an ethical perspective. It gives the owner the sole right to utilise the work financially, through sales, rentals, etc. The ethical protection ensures that the originator is always named as originator of the work and that the work cannot be changed or be presented in such a way, or in such a context, that the originator’s literary or artistic reputation or distinctive character be violated.
Saltkråkan AB also has the sole right to Astrid Lindgren’s share of the copyright to all films, plays, computer games, etc, which are based on her works.
There are also a great number of established and registered brand names connected with Astrid Lindgren’s texts, characters and settings. All these are also owned by Saltkråkan AB.
Who owns the pictures and the music?
The artists who have illustrated Astrid Lindgren’s books own the copyright to their own pictures. Ingrid Vang Nyman is the only exception since Saltkråkan AB has acquired the financial copyright to all her pictures.
Composers who have written the music for any of Astrid Lindgren’s works – films or plays, for example – own the copyright to their own compositions. Saltkråkan AB owns the copyright to all texts written by Astrid Lindgren.
Photographers who have taken pictures of Astrid Lindgren own the copyright to their own pictures.
Why do we protect Pippi and the others?
In order to protect the characters and the stories which Astrid Lindgren created, it is important to faithfully stick with the originals. Sometimes, theatre groups have wanted to invent a boyfriend for Pippi Longstocking or that her mother would suddenly burst in on the scene – but that sort of freedom is absolutely not permitted. The result of that would be that the original Pippi character, as Astrid Lindgren created her, would eventually be watered down and disintegrate. Therefore it is not permitted either, for actors to dress up in Pippi clothes for the purpose of advertising other products or shops, for example.
This applies, of course, to all characters, figures and names created by Astrid Lindgren.
Contact Saltkråkan
Anyone wishing to use any of Astrid Lindgren’s works must always apply to Saltkråkan AB for permission.
Saltkråkan AB will be happy to answer your queries concerning their copyright and to discuss how material may be used.
info@saltkrakan.se
Tel +46 8 122 025 00
For illustrations, photographs or similar, please contact the originator.
You will find more information at: www.saltkrakan.se
