The former would have required the consent of Astrid Lindgren (respectively her legal successors). In its decision, the court essentially deals with the question of whether the work 'Hey, Pippi Langstrumpf', and the reference to the character of 'Pippi Longstocking', would constitute a dependent adaptation within the meaning of Section 23 of the German Copyright Act (UrhG) or a free use within the meaning of Section 24 UrhG. The plaintiff is of the opinion that the challenged song text is a translation based on the Swedish lyrics. According to the plaintiff, the song text 'Hey, Pippi Langstrumpf' would infringe rights to the literary character 'Pippi Longstocking' – which is protected by copyright as a linguistic work – as well as the copyrights to the Swedish song text. In 2006, the plaintiff became aware of the fact that the registration named the defendant lyricist as the sole author of the song 'Hey, Pippi Langstrumpf.' Subsequently, there was correspondence between the parties, which finally resulted in a lawsuit filed on December 11, 2017. In subsequent years, the lyrics were used in, among other things, the German versions of various 'Pippi Longstocking' films as part of the theme song. The defendant lyricist was indicated as the sole author and the defendant music publisher as the original publisher. Several years later, in November 1987, the defendant lyricist and the defendant publisher registered the same work with the GEMA under the amended name 'Hey, Pippi Langstrumpf: Titellied' (= “Hey, Pippi Longstocking: Title Song”). Among others, the defendant and Astrid Lindgren were named as joint authors of the lyrics. In October 1969, a first version of the German song was registered with GEMA under the name 'Hei, Pippi Langstrumpf'.

Before signing the publishing contract, the defendant lyricist therefore approached Astrid Lindgren in order to obtain her approval regarding the registration of the German song with the defendant named as the author. However, the song written by the defendant showed parallels to the Swedish theme song written by Astrid Lindgren herself. According to the publishing contract, the defendant was to be named as the sole author of the lyrics. In 1969, the defendant lyricist of the song 'Hey, Pippi Langstrumpf' was asked to write the lyrics of the theme song for the German-Swedish television series 'Pippi Longstocking” (“Pippi Langstrumpf” in German).

Astrid lindgren pippi