October 1, 2009

By Michael F. Snyder and Joseph P. Gushue

The billions of dollars in movie merchandising profits reflect the incredible value of intellectual property. If a film is, for example, adapted from a book, or — more commonly for merchandising in recent years — a comic book or graphic novel, a movie studio must first obtain rights, either through assignment or more commonly licensing, from the literary work’s author or owner. However, that does not mean the studio can begin production of action figures the next day.

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