The Disney Corporation is being accused of hoarding as much as $1 billion in royalties owed to the family of Steven Slesinger, who brought Winnie the Pooh to America, The Wrap reports.

“On Thursday,  November 5, Stephen Slesinger, Inc. filed a notice of appeal to obtain unpaid past royalties from Disney as well as redress for Disney’s past improper business practices,” the family said in a written statement. The family alleges that Disney owes 1.5-2.5% in royalties for the Winnie the Pooh character.

But Disney is contesting the claims. “The press release is a gross distortion,” said Disney spokeswoman Michelle Bergman. “SSI’s claims were dismissed in federal court. We’ve always acknowledged that the rights we obtained are royalty-bearing and continue to be so. I don’t know what the motivation is, but a decision was made awhile ago.”

The claims in fact were dismissed back in September, but the family is fighting on. “We are appealing the recent decision, and we are clarifying what the judge stated,” said family spokesman Lonnie Soury. “We did lose the case, but we are still owed royalties. Though the decision established that Disney is the licensee, we are still owed hundreds of millions of dollars. We don’t know exactly what that figure is, because Disney accounting is Hollywood accounting and that’s why we filed. They’ve been commingling Pooh revenue with Mickey Mouse.”

I don’t know whether the Slesinger family has a legitimate case, but there is one thing I know for sure. It’s really not good to be commingling pooh with anything.