History Main / FranchiseOwnershipAcquisition

** Disney bought Creator/{{Lucasfilm}} in 2012, and thus now owns ''Franchise/StarWars'' and ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' franchises.

** In 1994, Marvel bought another comics publisher, Malibu comics, who had created such comic series as ''ComicBook/TheUltraverse'' and ''ComicBook/MenInBlack''[[note]]Adapted into [[Film/MenInBlack the 1997 film]] [[AdaptationDisplacement that is more widely recognized by audiences]][[/note]] after Malibu went bankrupt that year. Some Ultraverse characters saw some crossovers with Marvel's main universe and vice versa during the 1990s, but this ceased after the year 2000. The Men in Black have not been featured in the Marvel universe and that title has largely remained its own continuity.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
* Creator/{{Disney}} has done this fairly frequently throughout its existence. Here are some specific examples.
** Disney bought ''Franchise/TheMuppets'' from The Jim Henson Company in 2004. Only two movies in the franchise are not owned by Disney (at least for now) - ''Film/TheMuppetsTakeManhattan'' and ''Film/MuppetsFromSpace'', which were respectively coproduced by Creator/TriStarPictures and Creator/ColumbiaPictures, both owned by Creator/{{Sony}}.

** Zenimax's acquisition by Microsoft means that all of Zenimax's former properties (including those by Creator/BethesdaSoftworks -''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'', ''VideoGame/TheElderScrolls''- and Creator/IdSoftware -''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein}}''-) are now Microsoft properties.

** Disney bought out 20th Century Fox (after which it was renamed as "Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios") in 2019, and now holds its multitude of franchises such as ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'', ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'', ''Franchise/DieHard'',''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes'', ''Film/HomeAlone'', ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'', and ''Franchise/TheSimpsons''.

** Early in its history, DC purchased a number of other comic companies and added their [=IPs=] to its own universe, including Fawcett Comics (the [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] characters), Quality Comics (ComicBook/PlasticMan, ComicBook/{{Blackhawk}} and various others), Creator/CharltonComics (ComicBook/BlueBeetle, ComicBook/TheQuestion etc.), and most recently Creator/{{Wildstorm}} (initially a subsidiary of Creator/ImageComics).
** Then, National Comic Publications, as it was officially then called, was acquired by Creator/WarnerBros as part of a merger in 1969.

* The ''Literature/WinnieThePooh'' children's book series, from which the wider ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh'' franchise originates, were originally published in 1926 by Creator/AAMilne who then sold the rights to Stephen Slesinger, Inc. in 1930. That company in turn sold the franchise to Disney in 1966 which would expand into a multitude of animated television series and features.

* The rights to ''Franchise/StarTrek'' have changed hands several times through corporate mergers and acquisitions. It started off being owned by Creator/DesiluStudios, which was bought by Creator/{{Paramount}} while [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original series]] was still in production. There was later a period in the 2000s and 2010s where the film rights and TV rights were split between respectively Paramount and Creator/{{CBS}} by their mutual parent company Viacom, which caused legal headaches for licensees like ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' creator Creator/CrypticStudios.

* In 2008, Creator/NBCUniversal bought Geneon Entertainment (after which it was renamed as Geneon Universal Entertainment and then Creator/NBCUniversalEntertainmentJapan) from Dentsu, which acquired Geneon (then known as Pioneer LDC) five years earlier. Thus, [=NBCUniversal=] now holds several [=IPs=] previously owned by or partially owned by Pioneer and Geneon including ''Anime/{{Moldiver}}'', ''Anime/ArmitageIII'', ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'', ''Anime/BlackLagoon'', ''Manga/{{Mahoromatic}}'' and so on.

* While the ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' franchise has been owned by Creator/{{AIC}} since the beginning, they negotiated a deal with Toei Agency to jointly share the franchise's copyrights in April 2021. The franchise's pre-1999 titles are partially owned by Creator/NBCUniversalEntertainmentJapan after their 2008 buyout of Pioneer/Geneon.

* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' and ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'', the former unofficial mascots of the original Platform/PlayStation, have had quite a few owners of them over the years. Though published by Sony Computer Entertainment from 1996-2000, they were both owned by Universal Interactive (a subsidiary of Creator/{{Universal}} focused on the creation and publication of video games). Universal Interactive held onto the IPs until 2003 when its parent company sold the video game division to Creator/{{Vivendi}}. Vivendi's game division, originally called "Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing" then eventually renamed Vivendi Games, was in turn sold to Creator/{{Activision}} in 2008. Decades later, Creator/ActivisionBlizzard (resulting from a merger with Creator/BlizzardEntertainment) would be acquired by Microsoft. [[{{Irony}} The one-time unofficial mascots of the PlayStation brand are now in the possession of a rival video game console manufacturer]].

* Creator/{{Microsoft}} in the 2010s and into the early 2020s has bought some prominent video game developers and publishers and by extension the franchises owned by those companies. Here is some elaboration:

* While the ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' franchise has been owned by Creator/{{AIC}} since the beginning, they negotiated a deal with Toei Agency to jointly share the franchise's copyrights in April 2021. The pre-1999 ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' titles are partially owned by Creator/NBCUniversalEntertainmentJapan after their 2008 buyout of Pioneer/Geneon.

* ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' was originally created and owned by Creator/StudioGainax before Creator/ProductionIG bought the rights in 2015.

* ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'': Co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird founded Mirage Studios in 1983 in order to publish the stories of the heroes in a half-shell and other comics. While the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would be subject to ChannelHop throughout the years, Eastman and Laird would remain at the helm of their comic adventures and rights over the broader franchise. They would sell the franchise in 2009 to Creator/ParamountGlobal while comics (as one of the terms made in the binding contract to sell TMNT) would continue to be made by Creator/IDWPublishing.

* ''Manga/ShamanKing'' was originally published by Shueisha. Kodansha bought the series after Hiroyuki Takei left Shueisha in 2017 due to CreativeDifferences.

* In 2008, Creator/NBCUniversal bought Geneon Entertainment (after which it was renamed as Geneon Universal Entertainment and then Creator/NBCUniversalEntertainmentJapan) from Dentsu, which acquired Geneon (then known as Pioneer LDC) five years earlier. Thus, [=NBCUniversal=] now holds several [=IPs=] previously owned by Pioneer and Geneon including ''Anime/{{Moldiver}}'', ''Anime/ArmitageIII'', the pre-1999 ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' titles, ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'', ''Anime/BlackLagoon'', ''Manga/{{Mahoromatic}}'' and so on.

* While the ''Tenchi Muyo!'' franchise has been owned by Creator/{{AIC}} since the beginning, they negotiated a deal with Toei Agency to jointly share the franchise's copyrights in April 2021.

* The rights to the ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries X-Men]]'' films were originally bought out by Fox back in the 1990s when Marvel was facing the fear of bankruptcy, and it wasn't until Disney bought Fox itself that the rights to the live-action ''X-Men'' films returned to Marvel some 20 years later; ironically, since Marvel was bought by Disney back in 2009, this technically makes the ''X-Men'' films a Disney property, meaning the franchise changed hands twice.

* ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' has burned through many different owners, with its television adaptation ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' having a hand in its numerous owners over time. The first twenty-one books were published by Edmund Ward Publishers, which merged with Nicholas Kaye Limited in 1967 to form Kaye & Ward Limited. They were still the owners of the book series until 1997, when Britt Allcroft purchased the rights following the Rev. W. Awdry's death. The Britt Allcroft Company's properties then went to Gullane Entertainment in 2000 after ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad'' [[Main/{{Pun}} derailed]] [[Main/BoxOfficeBomb at the box office]]. Then in 2002, Creator/HITEntertainment purchased Gullane, along with the entire ''Thomas'' franchise. Finally, in 2012, Creator/{{Mattel}} bought out HIT Entertainment.

** Disney bought ''Franchise/TheMuppets'' from The Jim Henson Company in 2004.

** The VideoGame/{{Cruisn}} series was owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}}.
** The VideoGame/NBAJam series was owned by Creator/ElectronicArts.
** The rest of the company's assets, including the Franchise/MortalKombat franchise, were owned by Creator/WarnerBros. Midway Games Chicago became WB Games Chicago first and Creator/NetherrealmStudios later.

* Cabbage Patch Kids were first made by Coleco, then by Mattel in the late '80s until 2000. It went into the hands of Play Along Toys during the 2000s, before being taken by Wicked Cool Toys.

* ''Franchise/DoubleDragon'': This BeatEmUp series of games was originally made by Technos Japan. Technos Japan went defunct following its bankruptcy in 1996 after which a licensing company, Million Co. Ltd, was formed to hold onto the rights to Double Dragon and other Technos franchises. In 2015, Creator/ArcSystemWorks bought the franchises from Million Co. Ltd.

* ''VideoGame/WorldHeroes'': This series of {{Fighting Game}}s were originally owned and made by Creator/{{ADK}} then acquired by Creator/{{SNK}} in 2003 upon the former's liquidation.

* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', for many years, despite being the genesis of Creator/StudioTrigger, was owned by Creator/StudioGainax. That was until 2021, where the rights reverted to its original creator, and it finally became, officially, one of TRIGGER's works.