It’s worth sharing this bit…or is it? Eleanor Morton shares this on BlueSky. I was intrigued…who doesn’t love Pooh bear?

CHATGPT states in response to my question:

Probably no, not safely/legally shared, unless the uploader is the BBC, Audible, Disney, A. A. Milne rights holder, or someone with explicit permission.

What I found:

The video is titled “Winnie-The-Pooh: The complete BBC collection | [Audiobook …]” and is described as Alan Bennett reading A. A. Milne’s stories.

The underlying 1926 Winnie-the-Pooh book entered the U.S. public domain in 2022, but Duke Law notes that this only applied to the first 1926 book at that time, not every later Pooh story or adaptation.

The specific Alan Bennett BBC audiobook recording is a separate copyrighted sound recording/performance. It is commercially distributed as Winnie-The-Pooh: The Complete BBC Collection, narrated by Alan Bennett, and listed through Audible for purchase. MusicBrainz also identifies a related release as a BBC Audio release.

YouTube’s own copyright guidance says copyrighted material on the platform needs authorization, and rights holders can request removal when content is uploaded without permission.

Practical verdict:
For classroom, blog, or public sharing, I would treat this as high-risk and likely unauthorized unless the YouTube channel is clearly an official BBC/Audible/Disney/rightsholder channel or the description provides a valid license. The fact that the text may be partly public domain does not make the BBC audiobook recording public domain. 🎧

Safer options: use a public-domain text edition, read it aloud yourself from a public-domain source, or link to an official licensed audiobook source.

Watch Winnie the Pooh BBC Collection

Alan Bennett reads A.A. Milne’s much-loved stories about a small bear and his friends – from Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner and A Party for Pooh.

‘If you were looking for the distilled essence of pure English cosy nostalgia, this audiobook may well be it… Every child should listen to it.’ – The Telegraph

What is the connection between a bear of very little brain and a honey pot? Usually it’s the very sticky paw of Winnie the Pooh, as he takes a break between adventures for a little something. In these stories, Pooh goes visiting and gets into a tight place, Eeyore loses a tail, Piglet meets a Heffalump, Eeyore has a birthday and gets two presents, and an expedition is mounted to the North Pole! As usual they are accompanied by Kanga, Roo, Rabbit and Owl – to say nothing of Pooh’s very clever young human friend, Christopher Robin.

With a musical introduction, Alan Bennett gives A.A. Milne’s characters the voices you felt they were always meant to have.

The stories included here are:

Winnie-the-Pooh Goes Visiting and Gets into a Tight Place
Pooh and Piglet Nearly Catch a Woozle and Eeyore Loses a Tail
Piglet Meets a Heffalump
Eeyore has a birthday and Gets Two Presents
Christopher Robin Leads an Exposition to the North Pole
A House is Built at Pooh Corner for Eeyore
Tigger Comes to the Forest and has Breakfast
A Search is Organdized and Piglet Nearly Meets the Heffalump Again
Pooh Invents a New Game and Eeyore Joins In
Piglet Does a Very Grand Thing and Owl Moves House
Kanga and Baby Roo Come to the Forest
Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water
Christoper Robin Gives Pooh a Party
Tiggers Don’t Climb Trees
Rabbit has a Busy Day
Tigger is Unbounced

#bbc​ #audiobook​

So… unfortunately:

A YouTube upload of the Alan Bennett BBC recording is circulating online, but I could not verify that it was posted by the rights holder. For classroom use, consider using a public-domain text edition or a licensed audiobook source instead.