Ben_ToaofFire wrote:Soooo a small question about how rights to certain scales figures work:
Can Funko acquire a license to make 3.75 inch scale figures if a certain amount of time passes after a line that another company with a master license made,or if somebody with a master license makes a line of 3.75 inch figures for a certain franchise, does that make it permanently off limits?
Like say, if Hasbro for whatever reason stopped making 3.75 inch Star Wars figures, and had no plans for its future in that scale, would you guys be able to get permission to make Star Wars figures in that scale?
Not inquiring about you guys making Star Wars figures, btw, just needed an example.
Well, there's no real one answer to that. It all comes down to contractual rights. Even if a company stops making something, they may still own the rights and just want to sit on it. All contracts have a time limit and every now and then, they need to get renewed (time varies greatly per contract). Nothing is ever permanently off limits, but a company can keep something perpetually off limits by renewing their contract.
Theoretically, and I can assure this is NOT happening, if Hasbro let their Star Wars license go completely, we could jump on it, but every other toy company on the planet would try to get it, too. But trust me, Hasbro will never, ever, ever give up the Star Wars rights.
And you mentioned 'master licenses', those are a bit different and all-encompassing, and even more unlikely to be given up.