After years of mergers and acquisitions, the original Warner Bros. Entertainment Company has expanded its business into movies, cartoons, television... and other fields.
Due to the impact of the "Paramount Judgment" in 1948, Warner's operations continued to decline, so in 1956 it sold most of its pre-1950s film and cartoon copies to Associated Artists Productions. In 1958, Associated Artists Productions was acquired by United Artists. In 1981, United Artists was acquired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
In 1984, Turner Broadcasting attempted to acquire Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but failed, but purchased the MGM/United Artists film database. This film database contains most MGM films before 1986, as well as early Warner films that have been resold many times. When Time Warner acquired Turner Broadcasting Company, Warner's early film copyrights returned to Time Warner Group. The copyrights were held by Turner Entertainment, and Warner Films had the sales and distribution rights.
Through the above-mentioned corporate acquisitions and mergers, Time Warner Group already owns almost all the movies that Warner Films has ever produced and screened. However, most of the film rights of subsidiary United States Pictures are now held by *** and/Paramount Pictures; while "Tank Showdown" is still held by Warner. "Cujo" (Cujo), which was originally owned by Warner Pictures, is now held by *** and/Paramount Pictures, and Lionsgate Entertainment has the DVD distribution rights in the United States. In 1973, Warner sold the rights to "My Fair Lady" to CBS, and Warner still had the DVD distribution rights.
Through the acquisition, Time Warner Group owns most of the cartoon films produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Ruby-Spears Productions, and a small number of films are owned by CBS. The Wiggles children's band is owned by HIT Entertainment/Lyric Studios and Playhouse Disney. Since 2007, Warner Bros. has owned the DVD distribution rights to The Wiggles. In 2007, Warner also bought the rights to the television version of the Snoopy series, while the film version is held by United Feature Syndicate, owned by Columbia and Paramount. The films starring John Wayne for Warner Bros. were originally owned by Batjac Productions, but Paramount Pictures now owns the rights to all Batjac Productions films. Nowadays, all Batjac Productions movies will be branded by Warner and Paramount; the two companies also own the Popeye cartoon and the upcoming "Watchmen". "Rope" directed by Hitchcock is now owned by Universal Pictures. 1956's "Moby Dick," now owned by United Artists. 1957's Sayonara, now owned by MGM. Movies distributed by Warner Bros. and copyrighted by its subsidiary ITC Entertainment, such as "The Medusa Touch", "Movie Movie" and "Capricorn One", are now copyrighted by Granada Productions , MGM has the film distribution rights. The 1951 Western film "Only the Valiant" currently has film rights from *** and Pictures/Paramount Pictures, while CBS Television Distribution holds the television rights and Lionsgate Entertainment has the video rights copyright.
The animated film version of The Flintstones and Modern Family, now owned by Universal Pictures. The 1943 musical film "This Is the Army" was donated to the U.S. Army Emergency Relief Organization by Jack Warner in 1950, along with proceeds from its screenings. But on Veterans Day in 2008, Warner Bros. received authorization to release the film on DVD. The 1973 animated film "Charlotte's Web" produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions is now owned by Paramount Pictures. "Once Upon a Forest" produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and "The Pagemaster" produced by Turner Pictures, originally owned by Warner Bros., are now owned by 20th Century Fox The company holds the rights, but Warner Bros. still holds international rights to the latter. Don Bluth's 1994 animated "Thumbelina" and "A Troll in Central Park" are now owned by 20th Century Fox. The rights to "An Officer and a Gentlemen" and "Last Starfighter" are now held by Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures, but Warner Bros. retains the TV rights to the latter . Turner Company
Turner Entertainment Company is another distribution company under Time Warner Group. It also holds many film and cartoon rights, such as: "The Wizard of Oz" (The Wizard of Oz), "A Christmas Story" (A Christmas Story), "Gone With The Wind" (Gone With The Wind), "Tom and Jerry" (Tom and Jerry).
The following are the film rights that Turner once held but have now lost: Most of the Hal Lobo films are now owned by RHI Entertainment, Genius Products/The Weinstein Films and Lion Gate Entertainment holds the distribution rights to the video. Hal Lowe's "March of the Wooden Soldiers" returned to its original distributor, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (then Samuel Goldwyn Films). Guys and Dolls, produced by Samuel Goldwyn and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, is also back under the ownership of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. "Our Gang," produced by Hal Lowe and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, was once owned by Turner Entertainment, and now has film rights to RHI Entertainment, television rights to CBS Television Distribution, Genius Products/Weinstein Films The industry has video distribution rights. The rights to "State of the Union" are currently held by EMKA, Ltd./National Broadcasting Worldwide. World Wrestling and its associated footage were purchased by World Wrestling Entertainment in 2001. The rights to "The Beastmaster" are currently held by the original producers, while Turner holds the television rights. The cinema and television rights to "Pink Floyd The Wall" are held by Turner, while other video and other rights are held by Sony Music. The copyright to "It's a Wonderful Life" was originally held by RKO, once held by Turner Entertainment, and now held by *** and Pictures/Paramount Pictures. In the 1990s, "The Man of the Year" entered the public domain. Films produced by David O. Selznick during his time at RKO, as well as The Spiral Staircase, were at one time owned by Turner Entertainment.
The copyright is currently held by ABC/Disney Pictures, and MGM, a subsidiary of ABC, has the video distribution rights.