Some of the information is Boop-Oop-a-Dooping full of SPOILERS. Boop-Oop-a-Doop!
Harvey Comics
| Betty Boop by Harvey[1] |
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| Harvey Publications | |
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Harvey Comics |
In 1955, Paramount Pictures kept the rights in its deal with UM&M TV, and they sold Betty Boop[2] to Harvey Films, the Harvey Comics animation division, which today is currently owned by Classic Media. On June 27, 1958, Paramount gave Harvey Films, Inc. the rights to those materials.
Based on court documents, Harvey planned to bring Betty Boop back to life in either comic or animated form. Recently discovered concept art of a 1959 "Betty Boop" concept art. Prior to this there was no evidence Harvey ever created anything using the character. The creation of concept material proves that something was in the works but never came to fruition.
In the early 1960s, Harvey actively licensed Betty Boop. Alfred Harvey and his brothers took over "Betty Boop and her Gang" and transferred her to Harvey Cartoons on May 15, 1980.
In 1995, Harvey Entertainment Co. filed a lawsuit[3] against Fleischer Studios, alleging that the studio which invented Betty Boop in the early 1930s was making illicit money from her promotion. Harvey requested ten million dollars in compensatory damages. Because the big-headed Betty made a massive comeback, the lawsuit coincided with that.
During the 1930s, Betty Boop's fame peaked. Fleischer produced over 125 Betty Boop cartoons between 1930 and 1939. The same year, cable network American Movie Classics aired a documentary honoring "Betty Boop's 65th birthday". Collectible Betty Boop t-shirts, pens, mugs, and other merchandise are well-liked. Additionally, she was a balloon in the Thanksgiving Day Macy's Parade.
Harvey, of Santa Monica, California, claimed that soon after developing Betty Boop, Fleischer Studios gave "Paramount Communications"[4] the copyright. The lawsuit claimed that Harvey purchased the rights from Paramount in the 1950s.
Harvey negotiated a deal with Hollywood, California-based Fleischer at the beginning of the 1980s, wherein Harvey would receive a portion of the money Fleischer made from marketing the character.
According to the lawsuit, Fleischer company broke the promise and did not keep the bargain, and therefore should have given Harvey entire ownership of the copyright for Betty Boop. The Fleischers refused to comment.
The Fleischers raised an entirely new theory. They argued that the district court erred in concluding that Paramount sold the copyright to UM & M., and argued that, because of the doctrine of indivisibility, the copyright passed neither to UM & M nor to Harvey Films. Instead, the copyright entered the public domain by virtue of Paramount Pictures' failure to renew the copyrights to certain cartoons.
It seems that the question of whether Paramount Pictures legally sold Harvey the Betty trademark in use is unrelated to the Fleischer estate losing a court battle against Avela Inc.'s public domain Betty Boop posters.
A.V.E.L.A., INC. claimed that Harvey had sold the copyright to them.
For the Avela Inc. suit, the foregoing reasons, the Court found that, as a matter of law, Defendants are not using the words "Betty Boop" or the image of Betty Boop as a trademark; therefore, the Defendants had not infringed the Fleischer Studios' word mark. Accordingly, the Court DENIES Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment and GRANTS Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. Defendants are ordered to lodge a Proposed Judgment within ten (10) days of the issuance of the Order.
Sally Sweet
In the Champion Comics series, Harvey developed a character similar to Sally Swing in 1939.
Trivia
- Harvey's character design for Betty, has a more 1950s dress design. She's still curvy and well endowed, and her dresses are more longer and sophisticated. And unlike her original design, Harvey's Betty has visible ears. She has a Little Audrey-like appearance.
- Many Betty Boop adaptions were never released because of these third-party lawsuits "over who owned the rights" to Betty Boop involving Harvey, King Features, and the Fleischer Studios. The production of films like The Betty Boop Movie in 1993 and The Live-Action Betty Boop Movie in 1987 were stopped due to these third-party litigations.
- During the 1970s the Fleischer family tried to buy the rights back to the character and were convinced they were the exclusive owner of Betty Boop, they later found out that King Features Syndicate had claimed ownership. Leslie Cabarga spoke to a King Features lawyer, and the lawyer said that King Features told the Fleischers to, "go to hell".