Case Studies in Intellectual Property: Dick Tracy

[Cadence]

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The fairly recent Italian series is pretty good too! (Wolfe is a bit too yelly and a bit to u commanding in several of the A&E ones but they were mostly solid or better). I thought about half of the old Conrad series was at least passable. The Shatner one off was... not good.

 

[Mad_Jack]

What is the deal with putting out broadcast little pieces to use the IP?

I've seen this referenced a couple of times for different properties but I am not familiar with that area of law.

A contract could be written to require the licensee to use the rights or have them revert so things do not stay fallow too long, but this seems a bit more common than something in individual contracts.

Basically, pretty much all deals for the rights to use an IP for a specific purpose are written that way - I'm not sure if there's a specific universal time limit or anything, but when you license the rights to use a property (rather than outright buying the IP permanently) most of the time the deal specifies that you need to do something and/or keep doing something with that IP within a specific amount of time in order to continue to hold those rights.
For films, when you want to use an IP, you "option" the rights to the IP for a percentage of what the actual cost of the rights (established by the actual IP holder) would be, and then you have a certain amount of time to get your project financed and running (at which point you actually pay for the full rights) before that option expires and the rights to the IP become generally available again.
Because so many things get optioned and then end up in development hell for years or even decades, a lot of times folks end up having to just throw something out there in order to keep somebody else from using the same IP.

I'm sure Snarf can probably write a book on the subject (or possibly has, lol).

 

[Davies]

Speeking of Tracy, this just started this week in the comic strip...

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Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for February 26, 2023 | GoComics.com

View the comic strip for Dick Tracy by cartoonist Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger created February 26, 2023 available on GoComics.com

www.gocomics.com

<reads> Not quite how I envision Archie looking, but I suspect I might be too influenced by Mr. Hutton's portrayal. <takes a second look> Oh! That's a caricature of him, I think.

 

[Voadam]

Basically, pretty much all deals for the rights to use an IP for a specific purpose are written that way - I'm not sure if there's a specific universal time limit or anything, but when you license the rights to use a property (rather than outright buying the IP permanently) most of the time the deal specifies that you need to do something and/or keep doing something with that IP within a specific amount of time in order to continue to hold those rights.
For films, when you want to use an IP, you "option" the rights to the IP for a percentage of what the actual cost of the rights (established by the actual IP holder) would be, and then you have a certain amount of time to get your project financed and running (at which point you actually pay for the full rights) before that option expires and the rights to the IP become generally available again.
Because so many things get optioned and then end up in development hell for years or even decades, a lot of times folks end up having to just throw something out there in order to keep somebody else from using the same IP.

I'm sure Snarf can probably write a book on the subject (or possibly has, lol).

I would have thought that if it were just custom and practice in contract writing with the intention to prevent IP from laying fallow too long that the contract language would have adjusted over time to block recurring stuff like the movie critic in costume stunt which ends up with the IP actually laying fallow for decades.

 

[ValamirCleaver]

The Shatner one off was... not good.

Spoiler: Shatner related material

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Pellucidar was a different story than Tarzan at Earth's Core. But in 1976 you were only 20 or so years away from the Tarzan tv shows and most people had probably seen at least one episode of that or at least heard the books or read a tarzan comic, so back then that kind of scifi show didn't need to be explained.

There where a bunch of Tarzan movies and TV shows on TV in the 70s, including TV reruns of the Jonny Weissmuller films. But they all steered well clear of any fantasy elements. The only exception was an animated series from the 80s I think, that had some lost civilisations. But I don't think they went to Pellucidar.

But now I'm wondering if they couldn't mention Tarzan in the marketing for Land/People that Time Forgot, At the Earth's Core and John Carter, because they didn't have the rights? Bad Tarzan movies do seem to be being made at the the rate of about one every 14 years.

I will just mention that I caught a remake of Land that Time Forgot from low-budget film makers The Asylum, that was surprisingly not too bad. No doubt because the rights had expired.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

Is the Dick tracy IP really worth much? I can't see a movie or series based on Dick Tracy making much.

 

[Cadence]

Is the Dick tracy IP really worth much? I can't see a movie or series based on Dick Tracy making much.

It did ok back in 2003 I guess ($103 domestic on a budget of $47 mil?). I don't remember it being that popular.

It's earnings

Dick Tracy

www.boxofficemojo.com

It compared to other movies in its opening week

Domestic 1990 Weekend 24

www.boxofficemojo.com

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

I just don't see an audience that would consume Dick Tracy content to the point that it would be profitable.

 

[Undrave]

There where a bunch of Tarzan movies and TV shows on TV in the 70s, including TV reruns of the Jonny Weissmuller films. But they all steered well clear of any fantasy elements. The only exception was an animated series from the 80s I think, that had some lost civilisations. But I don't think they went to Pellucidar.

But now I'm wondering if they couldn't mention Tarzan in the marketing for Land/People that Time Forgot, At the Earth's Core and John Carter, because they didn't have the rights? Bad Tarzan movies do seem to be being made at the the rate of about one every 14 years.

I will just mention that I caught a remake of Land that Time Forgot from low-budget film makers The Asylum, that was surprisingly not too bad. No doubt because the rights had expired.

Tarzan the Epic Adventures is free on Tubi, BTW

Tarzan: The Epic Adventures

Swing from trees with the heroic Tarzan, who returns to Africa to defend his jungle from greedy men, and battle supernatural enemies.

tubitv.com