History ScrewedByTheLawyers / Film

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyThereItsYogiBear'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheManCalledFlintstone'' didn't get released on DVD until 2008, due to a dispute between Creator/HannaBarbera owner Creator/WarnerBros and Creator/SonyPictures, owner of the films' theatrical distributor [[Creator/ColumbiaPictures Columbia]]. During the period of the dispute, the films continued to air occasionally on Creator/{{Boomerang}}.

** Creator/{{Universal}}'s acquisition of the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' movie rights resulted in Mario getting removed from the final product despite prior rumors that he would appear in the film with a crucial role (a fate that was shared with Bowser, who had previously appeared in predecessor film ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph''). Mario was previously excluded from ''Wreck-It Ralph'', but this trope was ''not'' the reason why; WordOfGod says that Nintendo was all for them including Mario, but that the writers couldn't find a way to incorporate him that didn't end up turning the film into essentially a full-blown Mario adaptation. To make up for Mario and Bowser's absence, an EasterEgg showed up where a stack of yellow question mark blocks -- complete with the 8-bit look of the mark -- were shown in the background of Spamley's shack.

* This trope is most likely the reason why the titular possessed doll from ''Film/{{Annabelle}}'' was depicted as a generic glass doll instead of a Raggedy Ann doll as with the (supposedly possessed) real-life doll, as it seems the owners of the Raggedy Ann & Andy property wouldn't take kindly to a Raggedy Ann doll being depicted as a demonic object.

* The reason Scrat doesn't appear in ''WesternAnimation/TheIceAgeAdventuresOfBuckWild''; Creator/{{Disney}} no longer has the rights to the character as a result of a settlement with an artist professionally known as Ivy Supersonic.

* For over two decades, Creator/{{Nintendo}} has had a strict policy of refusing to allow any of their video game franchises to be adapted into films or film series. This was enforced after the LiveActionAdaptation of ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'' became a catastrophic flop with both fans and critics. This policy caused a proposed film adaptation of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' to be scrapped and ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' fan-movie ''The Hero of Time'' to be hit with a cease-and-desist. [[note]]This even applied to ''[[ParallelPornTitles porn parodies]]'': Nintendo bought the rights to the two ''Super Hornio Brothers'' movies to ensure they wouldn't be re-released. Copies of the two movies are therefore very rare.[[/note]] However, beginning in late 2014, Nintendo might be relaxing this policy. [[http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/sony-nintendo-mario-bros-movie Leaked emails]] stolen from Sony Pictures as part of a cyber attack against the studio revealed that the studio was in negotiations with Nintendo to acquire the film rights to ''Mario'' and adapt the franchise into an AnimatedAdaptation, with ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' producer Avi Arad spearheading it. Later, it was revealed they'd instead partnered with Creator/{{Universal}} subsidiary Creator/IlluminationEntertainment to produce ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'', to be released in 2023; this is the first time a Nintendo franchise outside the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series has ever been adapted into a film since the Japan-only ''Anime/AnimalCrossingTheMovie'' in 2006, though Nintendo would still collaborate with Sony for a Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda film.

* For over two decades, Creator/{{Nintendo}} has had a strict policy of refusing to allow any of their video game franchises to be adapted into films or film series. This was enforced after the LiveActionAdaptation of ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'' became a catastrophic flop with both fans and critics. This policy caused a proposed film adaptation of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' to be scrapped and ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' fan-movie ''The Hero of Time'' to be hit with a cease-and-desist. [[note]]This even applied to ''[[ParallelPornTitles porn parodies]]'': Nintendo bought the rights to the two ''Super Hornio Brothers'' movies to ensure they wouldn't be re-released. Copies of the two movies are therefore very rare.[[/note]] However, beginning in late 2014, Nintendo might be relaxing this policy. [[http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/sony-nintendo-mario-bros-movie Leaked emails]] stolen from Sony Pictures as part of a cyber attack against the studio revealed that the studio was in negotiations with Nintendo to acquire the film rights to ''Mario'' and adapt the franchise into an AnimatedAdaptation, with ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' producer Avi Arad spearheading it. Later, it was revealed they'd instead partnered with Creator/{{Universal}} subsidiary Creator/IlluminationEntertainment to produce ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'', to be released in 2023; this is the first time a Nintendo franchise outside the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series has ever been adapted into a film since the Japan-only ''Anime/AnimalCrossingTheMovie'' in 2006.

* For over two decades, Creator/{{Nintendo}} has had a strict policy of refusing to allow any of their video game franchises to be adapted into films or film series. This was enforced after the LiveActionAdaptation of ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'' became a catastrophic flop with both fans and critics. This policy caused a proposed film adaptation of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' to be scrapped and ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' fan-movie ''The Hero of Time'' to be hit with a cease-and-desist. [[note]]This even applied to ''[[ParallelPornTitles porn parodies]]'': Nintendo bought the rights to the two ''Super Hornio Brothers'' movies to ensure they wouldn't be re-released. Copies of the two movies are therefore very rare.[[/note]] However, beginning in late 2014, Nintendo might be relaxing this policy. [[http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/sony-nintendo-mario-bros-movie Leaked emails]] stolen from Sony Pictures as part of a cyber attack against the studio revealed that the studio was in negotiations with Nintendo to acquire the film rights to ''Mario'' and adapt the franchise into an AnimatedAdaptation, with ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' producer Avi Arad spearheading it. Later, it was revealed they'd instead partnered with Creator/{{Universal}} subsidiary Creator/IlluminationEntertainment to produce ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'', to be released in 2023; this is the first time a Nintendo franchise outside the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series has ever been adapted into a film since the Japan-only ''Anime/AnimalCrossingTheMovie'' in 2006.

* Some of Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios' licensing deals with Creator/RodgersAndHammerstein musicals expire every few years, occasionally pulling ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic'' and the 1950s film adaptations of ''Film/{{Oklahoma}}'', ''Film/TheKingAndI'', and ''Film/SouthPacific'' out of circulation. The licenses for ''Oklahoma!'' and ''South Pacific'' expired for good in 2023, shifting to the Samuel Goldwyn Company (who previously redistributed ''Oklahoma!'' to cinemas in 1982).

* As ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer'' proves, this can work ''against'' development studios as well. It's not that Rankin-Bass didn't try to keep the rights; in fact, a copyright of MCLXIV appears right in the opening credits. The problem: the special was made in 1964, or MC'''''M'''''LXIV, and the production crew forgot to check the opening credits for that crucial misspelling. Because of that missing M, the film is legally considered to have been copyrighted in the year 1164, and thus in the public domain for almost 800 years. It sounds stupid -- after all, that was long before even the camera was invented -- but the decision has actually been upheld over the years, meaning just about anyone can use the characters from the special however they please without having to ask Universal (which currently claims to own the rights) for permission. Essentially, all those Christmas toy store/phone commercials you see everywhere around the holidays, and that one bit from "[[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Channel Chasers]]", are bootlegs, and there's not a thing Universal can do about it.

** As of March 20, 2019, all Marvel properties and characters can interact with each other within the MCU now that Disney's acquisition of [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios Twentieth Century Fox]] has been finalized. Despite this, the only characters and franchises Marvel still have legal trouble with are ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk and [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]], which they don't have the distribution rights to, and Franchise/SpiderMan, which is being shared between them and Sony.

** The reasons for this was because of the way Marvel Studios operated back before they started making their own movies and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was conceptualized, where they had to sell off the film rights of many of their characters to other studios like [[Creator/{{TwentiethCenturyStudios}} Twentieth Century Fox]], who gained the rights to the Franchise/XMen and Franchise/FantasticFour, and Universal Pictures, who gained the rights to the Hulk and Namor.

** In 1997, [=McClory=] announced that, in partnership with Sony Pictures, he would remake ''Thunderball'' again, this time under the title of ''Warhead 2000'', with another former Bond actor, Creator/TimothyDalton, being considered to play 007, which would launch a rival Bond series. MGM (UA's successor) sued Sony over the decision, leaving the latter to give up on the property. MGM would subsequently acquire all rights to ''Never Say Never Again'' in 1997, as well as the rights to the novel ''Literature/CasinoRoyale'' and its [[Film/{{Casino Royale|1967}} earlier film adaptation]] from Sony two years later; in return, Sony received the rights to make a ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' film, itself at the time the result of legal entanglements (this of course paid off big time for Sony down the line).

* Going hand-in-hand with the ''Bond'' example above, getting ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' to the big screen was a story in and of itself. After the rights passed to Creator/TheCannonGroup, who came ''this'' close to making one, only for their financial issues to catch up with them (parts of it were salvaged for use in the film ''Film/Cyborg1989'', along with an also-aborted sequel to Cannon's ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'' movie), rival Creator/CarolcoPictures got the rights. They had Creator/JamesCameron work on his own version, until Carolco's equally-awful financial situation and legal issues caused any kind of progress to halt. For some time there was a big legal battle between multiple parties over the rights -- MGM (which had merged with Cannon and concluded they had the rights), Marvel (which had just gone bankrupt amid the 90s comics crash, further complicated by multiple groups feuding for control), and a couple others (including Cannon's co-head Menahem Golan, annoyed at not being credited for the work he'd done; Viacom and Creator/SonyPictures, which had purchased the TV and home video rights to Golan's version; and 20th Century Fox, who were annoyed this was happening when they'd already signed a contract with Cameron for him to work for them). Ultimately, Sony and MGM came to an agreement; Sony got the rights to ''Spider-Man'' from MGM, and in return Sony would drop any attempt to make their own rival ''Bond'' films (and sold the rights to the two they already owned).

** In 1997, [=McClory=] announced that, in partnership with Sony Pictures, he would remake ''Thunderball'' again, this time under the title of ''Warhead 2000'', with another former Bond actor, Creator/TimothyDalton, being considered to play 007, which would launch a rival Bond series. MGM (UA's successor) sued Sony over the decision, leaving the latter to give up on the property. MGM would subsequently acquire all rights to ''Never Say Never Again'' in 1997, as well as the rights to the novel ''Literature/CasinoRoyale'' and its [[Film/{{Casino Royale|1967}} earlier film adaptation]] from Sony two years later.

** The reasons for this was because due of the way Marvel Studios operated back before they started making their own movies and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was conceptualized, where they had to sell off the film rights of many of their characters to other studios like [[Creator/{{TwentiethCenturyStudios}} Twentieth Century Fox]], who gained the rights to the Franchise/XMen and Franchise/FantasticFour, and Universal Pictures, who gained the rights to the Hulk and Namor.

** As of March 20, 2019, all Marvel properties and characters can interact with each other within the MCU now that Disney's acquisition of Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox has been finalized. Despite this, the only characters and franchises Marvel still have legal trouble with are ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk and [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]], which they don't have the distribution rights to, and Franchise/SpiderMan, which is being shared between them and Sony.

** The reasons for this was because due of the way Marvel Studios operated back before they started making their own movies and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was conceptualized, where they had to sell off the film rights of many of their characters to other studios like Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, who gained the rights to the Franchise/XMen and Franchise/FantasticFour, and Universal Pictures, who gained the rights to the Hulk and Namor.
** The main caveat with the film rights when Marvel sold them was basically "use it or lose it", meaning that if certain film rights aren't used, they would revert back to Marvel[[note]] A notorious example of this is Creator/NewLineCinema's ''Film/BladeTrilogy'', based off Marvel's ''ComicBook/{{Blade}}'' franchise. Creator/WesleySnipes' three-year prison sentence for [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor tax evasion]] led to Marvel Comics yanking the film rights from New Line/Creator/WarnerBros due to the studios being deemed unable to pull off a fourth film on time without Snipes[[/note]]. Thus, Fox was rushing out ''X-Men'' films in rapid succession to keep the film rights away from Marvel, while Sony has decided to share the rights to ''Spider-Man'' with Marvel in hopes that they will be able to make more profits off the character than they did doing it alone; conversely, they both gave up entirely on Ghost Rider and Daredevil due to their box office weakness under their tenure[[note]]In a similar vein, Creator/LionsGate gave up on ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' after their ''third'' attempt at starting a franchise, ''Film/PunisherWarZone'', flopped[[/note]]. The whole rights debacle is also the main reason why the ''Spider-Man'' movies [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan were rebooted]] [[note]]Sony wanted a new ''Spider-Man'' movie out the door as quickly as possible before the rights expired, but Creator/SamRaimi rejected the scripts he was presented and left, taking Creator/TobeyMaguire with him, forcing Sony to hastily start anew to prevent the lapsing.[[/note]], and after the [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2 sequel]] somewhat flopped they struck the aforementioned deal with Marvel. As for the ''Fantastic Four'', Fox hoped to get it right [[Film/FantasticFour2015 a second time]] to justify keeping the rights away from Marvel, but it ended up receiving the worst reception of any Marvel superhero movie.

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyThereItsYogiBear'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheManCalledFlintstone'' didn't get released on DVD until 2008, due to a dispute between Creator/HannaBarbera owner Creator/WarnerBros and Sony Pictures, owner of the films' theatrical distributor [[Creator/ColumbiaPictures Columbia]]. During the period of the dispute, the films continued to air occasionally on Creator/{{Boomerang}}.

*** On August 20, 2019, it was revealed that a dispute over co-financing and producer credits had jettisoned Spider-Man from the MCU. Over a month later, on September 27, 2019, the dispute was overcome with Spider-Man returning for [[Film/SpiderManNoWayHome a solo film]] and a team-up movies, as well as a second trilogy.

*** On August 20, 2019, it was revealed that a dispute over co-financing and producer credits have jettisoned Spider-Man out of the MCU. Over a month later, on September 27, 2019, the dispute was overcome with Spider-Man returning for two more movies.

** According to Creator/MarkRuffalo, the aforementioned legal issues involving ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk with Universal also apply to the [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] as well, as Universal still retains some rights to make and distribute stand-alone ''Hulk'' and ''Namor'' movies (similar to how ''Spider-Man'' and Sony are now being handled), as they did with the original ''Film/{{Hulk}}'' and ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}''. Marvel can't seem to push them into giving the rights back, making the likelihood of another standalone movie featuring the Hulk small.

** The reasons for this was because due of the way Marvel Studios operated back before they started making their own movies and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was conceptualized, where they had to sell off the film rights of many of their characters to other studios like Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, who gained the rights to the Franchise/XMen and Franchise/FantasticFour, and Universal Pictures, who gained the rights to the Hulk.

* For over two decades, Creator/{{Nintendo}} has had a strict policy of refusing to allow any of their video game franchises to be adapted into films or film series. This was enforced after the LiveActionAdaptation of ''Film/SuperMarioBros'' became a catastrophic flop with both fans and critics. This policy caused a proposed film adaptation of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' to be scrapped and ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' fan-movie ''The Hero of Time'' to be hit with a cease-and-desist. [[note]]This even applied to ''[[ParallelPornTitles porn parodies]]'': Nintendo bought the rights to the two ''Super Hornio Brothers'' movies to ensure they wouldn't be re-released. Copies of the two movies are therefore very rare.[[/note]] However, beginning in late 2014, Nintendo might be relaxing this policy. [[http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/sony-nintendo-mario-bros-movie Leaked emails]] stolen from Sony Pictures as part of a cyber attack against the studio revealed that the studio was in negotiations with Nintendo to acquire the film rights to ''Mario'' and adapt the franchise into an AnimatedAdaptation, with ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' producer Avi Arad spearheading it. Later, it was revealed they'd instead partnered with Creator/{{Universal}} subsidiary Creator/IlluminationEntertainment to produce ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'', to be released in 2023; this is the first time a Nintendo franchise outside the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series has ever been adapted into a film since the Japan-only ''Anime/AnimalCrossingTheMovie'' in 2006.

** As of March 20, 2019, all Marvel properties and characters can interact with each other within the MCU now that Disney's acquisition of Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox has been finalized. Despite this, the only characters and franchises Marvel still have legal trouble with are ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk, which they don't have the distribution rights to, and Franchise/SpiderMan, which is just being shared between them and Sony.

* If [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] is to be believed, this has also happened to Music/MichaelJackson's ''Film/{{Moonwalker}}''[[note]]His only other major film appearance following his role as the Scarecrow in ''Film/TheWiz'' (''Film/ThisIsIt'' doesn't count)[[/note]] because of "specific music and film licensing" for any North American DVD or Blu-Ray release (the U.K. region free Blu-Ray release notwithstanding).

** A lawsuit between MGM and Bond rights-holder Danjaq over the sale of television rights in the early-90s led to the cancellation of a third Bond film starring Timothy Dalton and led to [[DevelopmentHell a six-year gap where no Bond film was released]], the longest gap in the franchise's history.

* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension'' allegedly saw attempts at continuation blocked, despite interest, because rightsholder David Begelman feared that his creative bookkeeping might get exposed in the process. To this day, over 25 years after the death of Begelman, the rights are still a mess. A movie sequel is unlikely, simply because they don't know who Begelman might have sold what rights to, and to how many, as his company collapsed under massive fraud, and the chain of title is unknown, which, to a copyright lawyer, is a very very red flag.