When ADK and TV Tokyo attempted to market the show on their own, they were found to have violated their contract with 4Kids.

9 Other Recovery – Material and Courier Cost US$247,771.88

My $.02...

Eventually this contract will expire, so if you are TVTokyo & Co. are you going to re-up with 4Kids? They will think long and hard about that.

If you are another Japanese studio are you going to contract with 4Kids for one of your properties? Again, I believe they will think long and hard about that.

Mark Gosdin

Yu-Gi-Oh! Lawsuit Settled Between 4Kids, ADK, TV Tokyo

posted on 2012-03-01 19:30 EST

"Amicable" settlement of licensing dispute over anime

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American production company 4Kids Entertainment announced on Thursday that there is an amicable settlement of the lawsuit between 4Kids Entertainment and Asatsu-DK (ADK) and TV Tokyo over the license of the Yu-Gi-Oh! property. According to 4Kids, the licensing agreement between the three parties will continue to be "in full force and effect with 4Kids continuing to serve as the exclusive licensing agent for the merchandise licensing, television broadcast, and home video rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! property throughout the world outside of Asia."

The lawsuit was filed by TV Tokyo and Nihon Ad Systems last March, accusing the North American media distributor of "underpayments, wrongful deductions, and unmet obligations" and stating that 4Kids owed the companies US$4,792,460.36. Last December, a bankruptcy judge ordered that 4Kids' license of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series was still in effect, after earlier ordering a stay that barred ADK and TV Tokyo from selling the international license of the new Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal anime series to other companies.

A year after the once mighty kids entertainment powerhouse 4Kids filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (see “4Kids Files Chapter 11”), and just a month after settling a lawsuit over its rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime property, 4Kids has sold its YGO rights to Kidsco, an affiliate of the Saban Capital Group (that rose to success in the world of children’s programming on the backs of the Power Rangers) for 10 million dollars.

Meanwhile 4Kids, having shed its most potent license, has signed a deal that will give it international rights to the 52-episode Beastkeeper cartoon series produced in Italy by Mondo TV, Starbright, and Ponpoko Productions.