merchandising rights

Meaning

Merchandising rights refer to the legal permissions granted by a copyright holder to manufacture and sell consumer products—such as toys, clothing, or video games—based on a creative property. In the entertainment industry, securing these rights is highly lucrative and often forms a significant portion of a franchise's total revenue.

Examples

• The creator of the comic book series retained the merchandising rights, allowing her to license action figures independently.

  The creator of the comic book series retained the merchandising rights, allowing her to license action figures independently.

• Negotiations stalled when the studio demanded exclusive merchandising rights for all future sequels.

  Negotiations stalled when the studio demanded exclusive merchandising rights for all future sequels.

• A significant portion of the film's overall profitability came from international merchandising rights.

  A significant portion of the film's overall profitability came from international merchandising rights.

• The toy manufacturer paid a hefty royalty fee to secure the merchandising rights for the upcoming animated series.

  The toy manufacturer paid a hefty royalty fee to secure the merchandising rights for the upcoming animated series.

• Before signing the contract, the novelist consulted an entertainment lawyer to protect his merchandising rights.

  Before signing the contract, the novelist consulted an entertainment lawyer to protect his merchandising rights.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The studio bought the merchandise rights of the movie.

  ✓ The studio bought the merchandising rights to the movie.

  The standard industry term is 'merchandising rights' (using the gerund), and the preposition used is typically 'to' rather than 'of'.

• ✗ They secured merchandising rights to sell the actors.

  ✓ They secured merchandising rights to sell action figures of the characters.

  Merchandising rights apply to intellectual property, characters, and logos, not to the actual physical human actors themselves.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The studio made more money from selling action figures than from ticket sales, proving how valuable ___ can be.

  💡 Legal permissions to produce and sell physical products based on a film.

  Show answer

  merchandising rights

• When drafting the film contract, the author insisted on keeping the ___ to her characters.

  💡 Rights associated with toys, clothing, and other goods.

  Show answer

  merchandising rights