Winnie the Pooh is a lucrative prize

Pointing the finger at Slesinger Inc is Walt Disney, which for 13 years has fought a court case over royalties.

Disney told the court that the firm - which bought merchandising rights from AA Milne in 1930 - hired investigators to steal confidential papers.

But Slesinger's lawyers retaliated, saying Disney had been destroying key documents for years.

Who stole what?

The case revolves around how much money Disney should pay Slesinger Inc for the use of Pooh's image in cartoons and on merchandising.

The firm licensed Pooh to Disney in 1983, but began to sue for what it said were missing royalties in 1991.

Disney contends that it could lose hundreds of millions of dollars if the case goes Slesinger's way, and until earlier this year was supporting Milne's grand-daughter in an attempt to win back the rights.

Now the iconic cartoon-maker is trying to get the case thrown out on the grounds that Slesinger had stolen confidential documents, rifling through rubbish within Disney offices and taking the word "confidential" off the documents it found.

"The Slesingers have been stealing documents," said Disney lawyer Daniel Petrocelli, "and they've been doing it for years."

But for its part Slesinger contends the fault is Disney's.

Its lawyers displayed documents they said were found in publicly-accessible garbage, one of which spoke of "faulty accounting at best" in Disney's dealings with Pooh royalties.