London court orders global removal of Wolfoo videos over Peppa Pig copyright breach

A London High Court judge has ordered the complete removal of all videos featuring the animated character Wolfoo from platforms such as YouTube. Mr Justice Smith ruled that the Vietnamese production illegally copied audio from Peppa Pig, mandating the takedown across the UK, the European Union and all 166 World Trade Organisation member states by 16:00 BST on Monday.

The legal action was initiated in 2022 by entertainment giant Hasbro and Peppa Pig creators Astley Baker Davies Ltd against the Vietnamese maker SConnect. While the plaintiffs initially raised concerns about the visual appearance of the young wolf character, they ultimately focused their case on the audio to secure a more straightforward proof of direct copying.

Mr Justice Smith described the audio infringement as prolific, extensive and seemingly endemic across the English language versions of the show. Evidence showed that short sound clips, including exclamations like hooray, were present in all 92 English language Wolfoo videos examined and roughly 75 percent of the foreign language episodes. The judge noted that SConnect had attempted to deceive young viewers, mostly aged between two and five, into believing the wolf was the same as or connected to Peppa Pig.

SConnect denied the infringement claims, arguing that an independent third party had inserted the clips without the company's knowledge prior to mid-2020. The Vietnamese studio claimed it had removed the offending content and that all subsequent animations used in-house audio. However, the judge dismissed the third-party defense as irrelevant, noting that some infringing videos were merely shifted to different channels and that claims of entirely new in-house audio could be disproved.

The ruling carries significant implications for multinational brand protection and intellectual property strategy. Andrew Lee, head of intellectual property at Brandsmiths, which represented Hasbro, highlighted the strategic value of the decision for global markets.

Lee noted that because Peppa Pig is available in hundreds of countries, the massive scale of Wolfoo posed a major problem for the brand. By litigating in UK courts, the plaintiffs successfully secured a worldwide injunction without needing to file separate actions in every individual jurisdiction. Lee called it a significant judgment that consolidates brand protection in a single forum rather than fragmenting it across global courts.