Properties that are licensed, or with potential for licensing, come from many sources—from art to celebrities, fashion designers to feature films and television programs, sports leagues and personalities to toys, videogames, and food and beverage brands.
Although some properties cross over into several sectors, for the most part they are classified under the property type where their major licensing activity occurs. That said, the lines are blurring. For example, some musicians or actresses are almost better known as designers; fashion and interior designers are better known as reality stars (their careers started in the former but the fame that allowed them to license sometimes started in the latter); etc. This is not an exact science.
Another type of exception is when a separate licensing program is set up (with its own art and logo) as an extension of the original. For example, Batman’s origins are as a publishing property, since it was originally a comic book character. But distinctive licensing programs have surrounded the many films based on the characters, so the sales directly related to the logos and images from the films would be classified under “Entertainment/Character,” while any licensing of the original comic book art falls under “Publishing.”
Still other cases where there is clearly crossover, or where the lines are blurry, are described in the following brief descriptions of the primary sources of licensed properties, with sub-categories included for many. Each description is followed by a list of representative properties that fall under that property type. The listings are guidelines in helping you to understand the data more fully, but are by no means comprehensive.
Property Types
Video Games/Interactive/Online