Council removes Gruffalo sculptures from park over copyright breach
Gruffalo sculptures have been removed from a beauty spot following claims that they breached copyright.
The wooden carvings at Orrest Head, near Windermere in the Lake District, were taken down after a complaint by the popular children's books' copyright owner.
Magic Light Pictures, which licences the rights to The Gruffalo on behalf of creators Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, wrote to the local council demanding their removal.
Locals are now in uproar after the sculptures, which are privately owned, were taken away.
Tamsin Travis, who runs a social media account encouraging people to visit the Lakes, said the sculptures had been there for a decade 'with no issue'.
'It's such an important part of the local community and it's such a wonderful site for children and families to enjoy without any expectation of buying anything,' she told BBC Radio Cumbria.
Ms Travis called for the sculptures to be reinstalled 'for families to enjoy'.
Magic Light Pictures wrote to Windermere Town Council claiming that the sculptures constituted 'copyright infringement'.
'These are licenced characters and you do not have permission to use these character likenesses on your site at Orrest Head (or any other site), as such activity represents copyright infringement,' the letter read.
It asked the council to take photographs of the sculptures to enable it to 'determine the most appropriate next action'.
Magic Light Pictures has licenced trails of Gruffalo carvings at Whinlatter Forest, near Cockermouth, and Grizedale Forest, to the west of Windermere, which are run by Forestry England.
The Gruffalo, which was first published in 1999, is one of the most popular children's books in the world and has been adapted into theatre productions and a film.
It tells the story of a mouse's woodland encounter with the Gruffalo, a scary beast which the mouse escapes through trickery.
The book and its spin-off, The Gruffalo's Child, have sold more than 17 million copies worldwide.
Sally Parkyn, the town clerk, told BBC News: 'All of us are working together to find a solution to what was just a mistake. We understand we should have thought about the copyright issue.'
Magic Light Pictures was approached for comment.
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