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Who owns James Bond?
Hello all. Long time lurker here who only posts very rarely. I've thrown this question out on the AJB forum but had no luck so I'm wondering if someone here has up-to-date information and can shed some light on this although I have no idea if the information is in the public domain or not.
Does anyone have a definitive answer to who owns the film rights to James Bond?
My understanding is that rights are wholly owned by Danjaq LLC (Formerly Danjaq S.A.). I think that is definite?
Danjaq was co-owned, 50/50, by Albert R Broccoli and Harry Saltzman.
In 1975, Saltzman sold his stake in Danjaq to United Atrists. So Danjaq was now co-owned, 50/50, by Albert R Broccoli and UA.
In 1981, MGM bought UA. As I understand it, UA remained the co-owners of Danjaq despite being a subsidiary of MGM. Is this correct?
According to John Cork, he believes that Albert Broccoli bought out UA's stake in Danjaq at some time in the mid-80s, (but he hasn't followed this information up.) If so, Broccoli owned 100% of Danjaq.
So, who now owns the rights to the James Bond films? Do Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli own 100% of the rights together? Do they own 50% each? Does UA or MGM still, in fact, own 50% (and, if so, how is the other 50% divided between Broccoli and Wilson?)?
Has any further info come out in the last ten years or so?
Does anyone have a definitive answer to who owns the film rights to James Bond?
My understanding is that rights are wholly owned by Danjaq LLC (Formerly Danjaq S.A.). I think that is definite?
Danjaq was co-owned, 50/50, by Albert R Broccoli and Harry Saltzman.
In 1975, Saltzman sold his stake in Danjaq to United Atrists. So Danjaq was now co-owned, 50/50, by Albert R Broccoli and UA.
In 1981, MGM bought UA. As I understand it, UA remained the co-owners of Danjaq despite being a subsidiary of MGM. Is this correct?
According to John Cork, he believes that Albert Broccoli bought out UA's stake in Danjaq at some time in the mid-80s, (but he hasn't followed this information up.) If so, Broccoli owned 100% of Danjaq.
So, who now owns the rights to the James Bond films? Do Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli own 100% of the rights together? Do they own 50% each? Does UA or MGM still, in fact, own 50% (and, if so, how is the other 50% divided between Broccoli and Wilson?)?
Has any further info come out in the last ten years or so?
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Comments
Sony is distributing the films.
But The Ian Flemings Foundation owns the rights to all of the issued James Bond books.
You're right that Danjaq owns the movie rights. I guess my specific question is "who owns Danjaq"?
Up until 1975 it was 50/50 between Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli. From 1975 to the mid-80s it was certainly 50/50 between Albert Broccoli and United Artists.
But who owns it now?
I believe the the owners of Danjaq are Michael G. Wilson and Cubby's children, although only MGW and Barbara run the company. By the way, Danjaq still exists, Eon is it's subsidiary.
Thanks Sandy, that's interesting about all of Cubby's children having a stake.
So, is it thought that Broccoli did buy UA's stake from them in the mid-80s?
The film rights are more complicated - but look up the information on Wikipedia on Eon Productions and danjaq, the legal entity, for more accurate information on this.
It all depends on European law. I know they extended the life of music royalties to something like 90 years, which a law professor of mine described as ridiculous. Don't know about books - there always seems to be a lot less fuss about them in legal circles!
The copyright for the films will expire in the UK 70 years after the death of "the authors". So, for example, DN and FRWL will fall out of copyright on 1 January 2067,70 years after the death of Albert Broccoli, the last surviving "author" of the film. OHMSS will fall out of copyright on 1 January 2072 as that is 70 years after the death of Peter Hunt, the last surviving "author" of that film.
US law works the same for all the films from Moonraker onwards. The copyright for all the films from DN to TSWLM will expire 95 years after they were released.
All Fleming's works will enter the public domain in the UK on 1 January 2035. Casino Royale and the character of James Bond will enter the public domain in the US on 14 April 2048 and each subsequent book will fall out of copyright for each year that follows.
In all likelihood, the laws will change before then though and the European and American copyright terms will be extended.
No, that's incorrect I'm afraid. The legal issues in the early 90s were related to a dispute about the valuation of international television distribution deals.
Very thorough. Everything is clearer now, thanks @Sir_James_Moloney.
My sense of the situation, (and that's all it is, is a sense based on what I've picked up over the years without actually looking into the matter) is that the Broccoli heirs own Danjaq. Eon is just Danjaq's production arm. Who the Cubby heirs are, I can't be sure, although it does seem that Babs and MGW would figure prominently.
I also believe that Danjaq own the book rights too. I think they cut a deal with IFP to get full ownership of the character in all it's forms. They may sub the book decisions out to IFP though.
I am very open to being corrected on this though.
Thanks Timmer. I wouldn't describe myself as an authority but I am trying to figure it all out. It's a very complicated situation though and piecing it together isn't easy.
AFAIK, IFP still own the book rights and not Danjaq (but I believe that Danjaq wholly own the "James Bond" and "007" trademarks which IFP now use under licence). The relationship between the two was certainly not cordial until about 2005 as that was when Danjaq took IFP to court in an attempt to stop them registering "Young Bond" as a trademark. Any further information you have would be much appreciated.
Yes, that would be correct if whoever was adapting it wanted to use elements from both the Eon film and Fleming's novel. If they just wanted to adapt the novel, they could do it in 2057.
Basically you are trying to suss out who owns Danjaq these days. Hmmm.
Indeed - that is true. I see that Sky has taken over the rights to the James Bond films being shown on ordinary TV from now on?
Also, the MGM logo still appears at the front of the film, so it is fairly safe to say that they still have a stake in it - although what size stake this is, I'm not sure of. I assume it's still 50%.
Danjaq LLC own the exclusive rights to the character of James Bond and to any films produced featuring that character, or characters featured in the James Bond universe. This is true as of the ruling against McClory/SPECTRE sometime in the late 90s, I believe.
Even approximations of Bond are a grey area. I seem to recall an advert being pulled at Danjaq's request that featured a "James Bond" like character.
Also, don't think they won't go for small fry. A guy that registered "James Bond Enterprises" (or something very similar) was ordered to change his company name and pay all Danjaq's legal costs, despite not being able o afford a lawyer himself.
Incidentally, you may still make a Bond film (or use James Bond as a character) in a film if you can prove it is for "educational purposes", but this would be a hard one to swing. I'm sure Danjaq's lawyers would be all over it.
EON Productions are simply a production company that Danjaq licences the film rights, characters and logos out to.
So if I get someone to fund it does that mean I can produce an entirely faithful to the novel verison of CR on this date and Danjaq/EON cant touch me?
I think I would expect a call from their lawyer.
Realistically, no, because CR doesn't fall out of copyright in the USA until 14 April 2048 as I mentioned in my post. But on that date - if the law remains the same - then yes, you (or indeed anyone) can produce an adaptation of Fleming's CR (entirely faithful or otherwise).
Thanks for your comments doubleonothing. I don't think MGM's financial issues necessarily help us on this issue, I'm afraid. The reason why MGM's bankruptcy / restructuring halted the production of Skyfall is because MGM have an exclusive 20 year deal to finance and distribute the James Bond films. i.e. Danjaq could not have legally financed the film elsewhere or, once made, distributed it with anyone else as they would have been in breach of that contract.
The MGM logo appears at the front of the film due to MGM's status as co-distributors of the film (So does the Sony-Colombia logo for CR, QoS and SF.) This is standard practice in the film business and would apply to any distributor of any film regardless of ownership.
But why do I give a toss about American law? British book by a British author first published in Britain. What are they going to me - extraordinary rendition to Guantanamo?
The nationality of the book and author are irrelevant to copyright law, I'm afraid, as is country where it was first published.
You would be perfectly within your legal rights to produce and release an adaptation of CR in 2035 provided you had no legal, operational or executive presence in the USA and you took active steps to prevent the film's distribution in the USA. But to address your earlier post, you would be absolutely right to expect a call from Danjaq's lawyers.
That's why I said it wouldn't be realistically possible. It would, at the least, be very complicated, expensive, and time-consuming. You'd be legally entitled to try though.
From 2048, the book will be copyright free and you would be free to adapt it almost any way you choose.
But wouldn't Eon still hold the rights to the title "The Spy Who Loved Me" until 2072? Would someone wanting to film the original Fleming novel have to call it something else, say "Vivian Michel?"
I'm fairly certain that the Broccolis do now own 100% of Danjaq @timmer. This is based on a couple of things:
The court case which delayed the production of Bond 17 was Danjaq S.A. vs MGM/UA. For Danjaq to have taken MGM/UA to court there would have had to be agreement between the partners and, needless to say, I don't believe that MGM/UA would have agreed with Broccoli to sue MGM/UA!
I have found no explicit mention, in any of MGM or UA's recent annual statements or in the information released during MGM's financial crisis in 2010, that MGM own any share of Danjaq.
All of Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson's pronouncements about their relationship with MGM strongly indicate that they are the sole owners of the company and that MGM are an external force.
Finally, John Cork reported that a source at Danjaq told him that Broccoli had acquired MGM/UA's shares in the mid-80s in exchange for more favourable distribution rights for MGM/UA. It's a shame that the information is so vague (the source is unnamed and doesn't mention the year or any further details) but John Cork is very reliable authority on Bond.
But the most compelling evidence is from the Danjaq vs MGM/UA legal case. The two key passages are: "Danjaq's principals [are] Albert Broccoli and his wife Dana" and later "The owner (together with his wife) and the chief moving force of Danjaq, Mr. Broccoli, resides in Los Angeles". These state, fairly unambiguously I think, that Danjaq was wholly owned by Cubby and Dana.
I don't know if the company is owned by just Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli or if, as Sandy suggested, shares are also owned by Tina Banta and Tony Broccoli (Albert Broccoli's other children) too.
...it's all very difficult to unravel but I think I will contact Danjaq and ask them directly.
No, because the title is derivative from the novel so once the novel is in the public domain, every single element, including the title, will be in the public domain too.
I must confess, this thread has been quite enlightening and I genuinely did not know about MGM's exclusive finance deal and that the Broccoli's bought out the UA shares.
No they can't @Aziz_Fekkesh as copyright terms are dictated by law. So once the copyright term expires, the novels (and, later, the films) move into the public domain. But I think it's highly likely that both the European Union and the USA will be persuaded to extend the length of the statutory copyright term - as many, many large corporations are pressuring them to do so (and, in fairness, they have a number of reasonable arguments to back up their agenda)
Thanks @doubleonothing. It's been very interesting for me too and I'm really pleased to have shed a bit of light on something that doesn't seem to have been publicly confirmed before.
Another fact that cropped up when looking into this that's worth sharing: When Broccoli and Saltzman formed Danjaq and Eon in 1962, they made an agreement to wind up the company after 10 years. When 1972 came along, Broccoli reneged on the agreement and Saltzman took Broccoli to court in Switzerland to attempt to force him to dissolve the company but the Swiss court found in Broccoli's favour. This was reported at the time but I have to say that I had never heard about it before or seen it in any of the documentaries or reference books about the series (and I think there must be more to the story than this as it doesn't quite add up)