Mr Justice Smith of the London High Court ordered all Wolfoo videos removed after finding extensive copying of Peppa Pig audio. The court found Peppa Pig clips in every one of 92 sampled English-language Wolfoo videos and roughly 75% of foreign-language samples. The order must be enforced by 16:00 BST on Monday and covers the UK, the EU and all 166 WTO member states. SConnect denied intentional infringement, blaming a third-party contractor for earlier clips, but the judge rejected that defence.
Peppa Pig Owners Win High Court Ruling — All Wolfoo Videos Ordered Removed Over Copied Audio
Audio clips of Peppa saying words like "hooray!" were used in Wolfoo videos, a judge found [Hasbro/eOne/Astley Baker Davies/PA Media]
A London High Court judge has ordered that all videos featuring the animated character Wolfoo be removed from platforms including YouTube after ruling that audio from Peppa Pig was copied without permission.
Ruling and Key Findings
Mr Justice Smith found that short audio clips from Peppa Pig — including phrases such as "hooray!" — had been used extensively in Wolfoo videos. The court examined samples and discovered Peppa Pig clips in all 92 English-language Wolfoo videos in its sample and in about 75% of the foreign-language videos reviewed. The judge described the copying as "prolific" and "long-standing."
Order, Scope and Deadline
The judge ordered that "all videos featuring Wolfoo" be taken down by 16:00 BST on Monday. The injunction was framed to apply in the United Kingdom, the European Union and across all 166 World Trade Organization member states, a group that includes the United States and Vietnam.
Defence and Court Response
SConnect, the Vietnam-based maker of Wolfoo, denied deliberate infringement but accepted some earlier videos — made before mid-2020 — contained Peppa Pig audio supplied by an independent third-party contractor. SConnect said it had removed infringing clips and that episodes made after mid-2020 used only in-house audio.
One Wolfoo channel on YouTube has more than 13 million subscribers [SConnect/YouTube]
Mr Justice Smith rejected those defenses as irrelevant to the infringement finding. The judge said some infringing videos had merely been moved to other channels rather than permanently removed, and that the claim that later episodes used only in-house audio could be disproved.
Background And Industry Reaction
Hasbro, which owns the Peppa Pig brand, and Peppa Pig's original creators Astley Baker Davies Ltd brought the action in London in 2022. The complaint originally highlighted visual similarities but focused on audio because it offered clearer evidence of direct copying.
"By bringing the claim in the UK courts...we were able to persuade the court to hear the case on a wider scale," said Andrew Lee, partner and head of intellectual property at Brandsmiths, which represented Hasbro. "It was about protecting the Peppa Pig brand globally rather than bringing actions in every country."
The court papers note one Wolfoo YouTube channel has more than 13 million subscribers. BBC News has asked SConnect for comment.
What This Means
The ruling is significant for rights owners seeking to protect children's brands online: it demonstrates that courts can grant wide-ranging remedies when evidence shows systematic copying, and that platforms hosting infringing content may be ordered to act across multiple jurisdictions.
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