Protecting and Licensing a Character or Franchise: A Practitioner's Guide to Delineation, Layered Rights, and Merchandising
By Casey Scott McKay ·
This guide takes a character from creation to commercial exploitation and sets out what has to be built at each stage. It begins with the delineation evidence a protectable character requires and the character bible that supplies it, then works the chain of title element by element, including the employment, assignment, and termination questions that decide who actually owns the asset. It sets out the layered protection strategy - copyright registrations, trademark filings by class and territory, and design patents on merchandise designs - and the sequencing that keeps each option open. The licensing section covers category definitions, approval mechanics, style guides, quality control, derivative ownership, royalty and audit terms, and reversion. It closes with enforcement policy, fan use, and the failure modes that cost franchises their exclusivity.
IP and Technology > Copyright | Guide | Published 21 July 2024 - Updated 5 February 2025 | Casey Scott McKay - marksy.us
Summary. This guide takes a character from creation to commercial exploitation and sets out what has to be built at each stage. It begins with the delineation evidence a protectable character requires and the character bible that supplies it, then works the chain of title element by element, including the employment, assignment, and termination questions that decide who actually owns the asset. It sets out the layered protection strategy — copyright registrations, trademark filings by class and territory, and design patents on merchandise designs — and the sequencing that keeps each option open. The licensing section covers category definitions, approval mechanics, style guides, quality control, derivative ownership, royalty and audit terms, and reversion. It closes with enforcement policy, fan use, and the failure modes that cost franchises their exclusivity.
Keywords: character licensing · franchise rights · delineation evidence · character bible · model sheets · chain of title · work made for hire · joint authorship · termination windows · style guide · approval rights · quality control · merchandising license · category definitions · royalty and audit · layered protection · design patent on merchandise · trademark portfolio · customs recordation · enforcement policy
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