Children's animation producer Nelvana has won its lawsuit against Paris-based Editions Mango for the use of Nelvana-owned properties after the two companies' licensing agreement was terminated. In 1994, Nelvana and New York creative consultancy Clifford Ross Co. signed a licensing deal with Editions Mango, allowing the French company to produce and sell books based on Nelvana and Ross-owned characters, including Babar, Celeste, Arthur, Cornelius, Flora and Alexandre. However in December of 1997, Nelvana terminated the contract for "non-compliance with territorial restrictions, failure to supply accounting and royalty reports and unscheduled production and commercialization of books." In the lawsuit filed by Nelvana, Editions Mango continued to use the characters after the official settlement agreement was finalized in early 1998. The Commercial Court of Paris, 4th Division, has now ordered, in addition to an undisclosed sum, Editions Mango to return all graphics, images and inventories of books and other materials produced under the 1994 licensing agreement. Editions Mango has until November 9, 2000 to appeal.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
