Michael Bond: 'I'd hate another writer to use Paddington'

Michael Bond has taken legal advice on how to stop other authors writing about Paddington Bear after his death, according to the Times.
 
In an interview published in the newspaper on Saturday 1st November , Bond said he has already consulted a lawyer over how to protect his creation and that he would “hate” another writer to take on Paddington.
 
“I have just made a will and gone to a lawyer in the City who specialises in that very thing of stopping people doing it – it’s quite difficult,” he said. “It is dreadful and I don’t trust anybody from that point of view. I think it’s quite wrong when they do James Bond… I think they [the characters] are sacred.”
 
Continuation novels are common practice in publishing now and tend to be big events. HarperCollins created a dedicated website and even a fictional hotel to promote The Monogram Murders, an Agatha Christie novel by Sophie Hannah. In children’s publishing, Penguin’s Young Bond series, first written by Charlie Higson and now Steve Cole, has been hugely successful, selling in more than 25 territories. 
 
Bond was interviewed by the Times ahead of this month’s release of the latest book in the series, Love From Paddington (HarperCollins Childrens Books, 6th November), and the film "Paddington".
 
Bond told The Bookseller in September that he is excited about the film, which will be released on 28th November. He said Paddington looks “so dignified” and that he was happy to have a brief cameo. “I’m dressed up as if I’m going to the city and he says something about the weather and I reply. End of story. I retire at my peak!”
 
The only suggestion he gave the producers was to begin the film in the same way as the first book; with Paddington’s arrival at the station. “My feeling about it was that if you get the basic opening of the film similar to the opening of the book you can do anything really after that.”