Paddington Bear creator considered suing Jeremy Clarkson's parents for copyright infringement
The author and creator of Padding Bear, Michael Bond, has revealed that he once considered suing the parents of Jeremy Clarkson after learning they were selling soft toy versions of the famous bear.
In an interview with The Sunday Times Bond said that he was alerted to the fact that Shirley and Eddie Clarkson were selling the toys when a Surrey shopkeeper called him with the news in the early 1960's.
Bond said he "went to the lawyer about it" to discuss suing the pair for copyright infringement but later gave them a license after becoming "friends" in a lift.
"I got in the lift with Shirley and Eddie. They were terribly nice and pretended it had all been a mistake — and we were friends by the time we got out of the lift. I gave them a licence.”
The couple went on to amass a small fortune selling millions of the bears and according to Bond forced him to write Paddington Bear's wellies into a 1964 story after they bought out all of Dunlop’s size-five wellington boots so the toy bear could stand up.