Entertainment

Peter Pan Rights Continue to Fund London Children’s Hospital Nearly a Century After J. M. Barrie’s Gift

By TOI World Desk

In 1929, Scottish author J. M. Barrie donated the rights to his play Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). The donation followed an invitation to join a committee that was helping the hospital acquire land for a new wing; Barrie declined the invitation but later gave the rights to the hospital. The gift allows GOSH to receive income from performances of the play and other licensed uses of the story. Barrie explained that Peter Pan had once been an invalid at the hospital and that this inspired his contribution. He asked that the amount raised through the gift never be disclosed, a request that the hospital has respected; the total income generated over the decades remains private.

The arrangement has created a lasting link between the hospital and the story. Theatre companies, schools and other organisations staging licensed performances in the UK contribute to the hospital’s charitable work through the rights arrangement. The play has appeared in stage productions, pantomimes, school plays and other adaptations, and its continued popularity has helped maintain the value of Barrie’s gift long after his death in 1937.

When copyright protection for Barrie’s work approached its end, the UK introduced a special provision under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act in 1988. This provision allows Great Ormond Street Hospital to continue receiving royalties from certain uses of the Peter Pan play and its adaptations in the UK, even after the copyright has expired. The provision does not apply to all uses worldwide, as copyright rules differ between countries.

The income from the Peter Pan rights supports GOSH’s wider efforts to care for seriously ill children and support their families. Although the hospital does not publicly disclose how much the rights have generated, the charitable intention behind Barrie’s donation remains a distinctive example of how a cultural legacy can serve a charitable purpose long after its creator’s lifetime. Nearly a century after the donation, the relationship between Peter Pan and Great Ormond Street Hospital remains intact, with the story’s enduring popularity and the UK’s special legal provision continuing to preserve a charitable legacy that supports seriously ill children.