4Licensing Corporation

4Licensing Corporation

4Licensing Corporation (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and 4Kids Entertainment) was an American licensing company.

History

The company was founded as Leisure Concepts Inc. on April 28, 1970.

The company changed its name to 4kids Entertainment Inc. on November 16, 1995.

On March 29, 2011, TV Tokyo and Nihon Ad Systems (NAS) sued 4Kids Entertainment, alleging that the company entered into illegal agreements with other companies, including Funimation and Majesco, regarding the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime franchise. TV Tokyo claimed that those agreements allowed 4Kids to collect royalties without paying a portion of those royalties to TV Tokyo, which violated their original agreement. The companies sought almost $5 million in "underpayments, wrongful deductions, and unmet obligations." As part of the suit, the companies terminated the Yu-Gi-Oh! license from 4Kids. Neither Funimation nor Majesco were listed as defendants in the case.

4Kids informed the licensors on March 27, 2011, that their termination letter was "wrongful and devoid of any factual and legal basis," and that they had not given 4Kids 10 days notice as required. 4Kids further revealed that they had made a good-faith payment of $1 million and agreed to a March 18 meeting in lieu of a lawsuit, which TV Tokyo and NAS nevertheless decided to go ahead with. The company also stated that even if the termination is found to be valid, the company is prepared to do whatever it takes to stay in business. 4Kids filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and rebranded itself under the name 4Licensing Corporation.

4Licensing Corporation filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy a second time on September 21, 2016. The plan went into effect on February 7, 2017.

Anime Licenses

TV Series

Title	Eps.	4Kids Start	4Kids End	Original Start	Original End
Pokemon	273	September 8, 1998	October 25, 2003	April 1, 1997	November 14, 2002
Tama and Friends	13	September 15, 2001	December 15, 2001	August 14, 1993	September 25, 1994
Yu-Gi-Oh!	224	September 29, 2001	June 10, 2006	April 18, 2000	September 29, 2004
Fighting Foodons	26	September 14, 2002	August 30, 2003	December 11, 2001	June 25, 2002
Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Legacy	51	September 14, 2002	October 11, 2003	January 9, 2002	December 25, 2002
Kirby: Right Back at Ya!	100	September 14, 2002	December 9, 2006	October 6, 2001	September 27, 2003
Sonic X	78	August 23, 2003	May 6, 2006	April 6, 2003	March 28, 2004
Shaman King	64	September 6, 2003	September 3, 2005	July 4, 2001	September 25, 2002
Pokemon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire	144	November 1, 2003	July 8, 2006	November 21, 2002	September 29, 2005
F-Zero: GP Legend	15	September 18, 2004	March 5, 2005	October 7, 2003	January 20, 2004
One Piece	104	September 18, 2004	September 22, 2007	October 20, 1999	February 2, 2003
Mew Mew Power	26	February 26, 2005	November 12, 2005	April 6, 2002	September 28, 2002
Magical DoReMi	50	September 10, 2005	April 29, 2008	February 7, 1999	January 30, 2000
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX	155	October 10, 2005	August 23, 2008	October 6, 2004	October 3, 2007
Dinosaur King	79	September 8, 2007	August 4, 2009	February 4, 2007	August 31, 2008
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's	123	September 13, 2008	September 10, 2011	April 2, 2008	November 24, 2010
Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal	24	September 13, 2011	May 19, 2012	April 11, 2011	September 19, 2011

Films

• Pokemon films 1-8
• Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie - Pyramid of Light
• Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond Time

Other Licenses

• Pokemon: Mewtwo Returns
• Pokemon Chronicles
• Dragon Ball Z Kai (Broadcast rights only; Dropped; Currently licensed and handled by Funimation with original licensor Toei Animation)
• Pretty Cure (Dropped without dubbing or releasing)

Original Productions

• Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monsters (Original production by 4Kids)
• Kinnikuman Second Generations: Ultimate Muscle (?)