HARRY POTTER: THE MAGIC OF LICENSING
■This vignette highlights the pros and cons of contractual agreements using the Harry Potter
(www.harrypotter.warnerbros.com) merchandising licensing example. Media giant Warner
Brothers purchased exclusive licensing rights to the series and produced and released eight
Harry Potter movies, all of which rank among the 30 top-grossing films of all time. Potter
books have sold more than 400 million copies in 67 languages in nearly 200 countries. The
final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—Part 2, was the highest grossing movie of
2011.
■ Warner licenses with many types of companies worldwide to use Potter–related images on
manufactured products like game software, children’s furniture, school supplies, toys, and
clothing in exchange for a royalty, a percentage of the sale generated by the licensed
product that the manufacturer pays to the licensor. The ability to associate these images with
manufactured products greatly increases the products’ sales potential and allows them to
command high prices.
Licensing deals and book sales have made author J.K. Rowling one of the wealthiest women
in the United Kingdom.
Examples of Harry Potter product and service licenses:
●Artifacts – products seen in the films that do not have Harry’s name on them. ●California’s
Jelly Belly Candy Company created Harry’s favorite candy, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour
Beans, in flavors such as earwax and sardine.
●LEGO makes construction kits for kids to build their own Hogwarts castle.
