Editing Looney Tunes (section)

== Licensing and ownership ==
In 1933, [[Harman and Ising]] left, taking the rights to the [[Bosko|Bosko characters]] with them. However, Warner Bros. retained the rights to the cartoons and the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' brand names, leaving their former producer Leon Schlesinger to start his own animation studio to continue the ''Looney Tunes'' series. With their retained Bosko rights, Harman and Ising began making cartoons at [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] in 1934 until they were fired in 1937 due to a lack of success. MGM proceeded to form [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio|their own studio]] to create its own cartoons. Time Warner eventually acquired the Bosko characters from Harman and Ising's estates. Meanwhile, the Schlesinger studio continued to make popular cartoons until 1944 when Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. Since then, Warner Bros. has owned all rights to all post-1933 characters created by Leon Schlesinger Productions and Warner Bros. Cartoons, even after the rights to individual cartoons were placed in other hands.

In 1955, Warner Bros. sold the television distribution rights to 191 of its cartoons (which included the black-and-white ''Looney Tunes'' and the black-and-white ''Merrie Melodies'' made after Harman and Ising left) to Guild Films.<ref name="google">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_DRYEAAAAMBAJ |title=Billboard |date=September 3, 2005 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_DRYEAAAAMBAJ/page/n5 6] |issn=0006-2510 |access-date=October 10, 2014}}</ref> The copyrights to those cartoons were assigned to [[Sunset Productions]], an entity owned by Warner Bros.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 16, 1955 |title=Guild Acquires 191 WB Cartoons |url=https://archive.org/details/variety197-1955-02/page/n185/mode/2up |publisher=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TLNkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA176 |title=Hollywood TV: The Studio System in the Fifties |year=1994 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=9780292730595 |access-date=March 28, 2020 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406050137/https://books.google.com/books?id=TLNkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA176 |url-status=live }}</ref> The cartoons were distributed by Guild Films until it went bankrupt and was bought by Seven Arts. Seven Arts bought WB in 1967, and WB regained the TV distribution rights to the black and white cartoons.

In 1956, [[Associated Artists Productions]] (a.a.p.) acquired television distribution rights to most of Warner Bros.' pre-1950<ref name="ymrt">{{Cite book |title=You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story |year=2008 |page=255}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Warner Bros Cartoons |url=https://www.newsfromme.com/pov/col225-2/ |access-date=March 4, 2023 |last=Evainer |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Evanier |year=1995 |archive-date=March 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230304174219/https://www.newsfromme.com/pov/col225-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref> library, including all ''Merrie Melodies'' (except for those sold to Guild and ''Lady, Play Your Mandolin!'') and color ''Looney Tunes'' shorts that were released prior to August 1948, while Warner still owned the copyright to all of the cartoons. Unlike the previous TV package, this package had the Warner titles kept intact and an "Associated Artists Productions presents" title inserted at the head of each reel (as a result, each ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon had the song "[[Merrily We Roll Along (song)|Merrily We Roll Along]]" playing twice).<ref name="geocities">{{Cite web |title=What did you see this morning? AAP! |url=http://geocities.com/argussventon/cartoondistributors/aap/aap.html |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027131515/http://geocities.com/argussventon/cartoondistributors/aap/aap.html |archive-date=October 27, 2009 |access-date=August 16, 2015}}</ref> Two years later, [[United Artists]] bought a.a.p. (which had also bought Paramount's ''[[Popeye the Sailor (film series)|Popeye]]'' films) who merged the company into its television division, [[United Artists Television]]. In 1981, UA was sold to [[MGM]]. In 1982, [[Warner Communications]] was in talks to buy back rights to the pre-1950 Warner Bros. Pictures library (which consists of the live-action and animation short titles made before 1948) from MGM/UA for $100 million in cash.<ref>{{cite web|title=Warner Communications to buy back right to pre-1950 Warner Bros. library |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/82-OCR/1982-06-28-BC-OCR-Page-0097.pdf|periodical=Broadcasting|publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc.|via=World Radio History|page=97|date=June 28, 1982|access-date=October 7, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |website=[[The New York Times]] |title=M-G-M trying to sell UA Music Co. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1982/06/17/215346.html?pageNumber=71 |access-date=June 3, 2021 |date=June 17, 1982}}</ref> The deal was called off on July 28 of that year; the negotiations fell apart because of dozens of unresolved points, probably relating to the oldest Warner Bros. films.<ref>{{cite web|title=Warner's library|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/82-OCR/1982-08-09-BC-OCR-Page-0061.pdf|periodical=Broadcasting|publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc.|via=World Radio History|page=97|date=August 9, 1982|access-date=October 7, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |website=[[The New York Times]] |title=MGM UA and Warner ends talks |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1982/07/29/048351.html?pageNumber=69 |access-date=June 3, 2021 |date=July 29, 1982}}</ref> In 1986, [[Ted Turner]] acquired the pre-May 1986 MGM library, as well the rights to the a.a.p. library. Turner's company, [[Turner Broadcasting System]] (whose [[Turner Entertainment Co.]] division oversaw the film library), was purchased by Warner Bros. corporate parent, Time Warner (now [[Warner Bros. Discovery]]), in 1996.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jessell |first=Harry |date=October 3, 1994 |title=Turner takes a swing at Time Warner |work=Broadcasting & Cable |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/94-OCR/BC-1994-10-03-Page-0017.pdf |access-date=24 August 2021}}</ref> When MGM/UA terminated its distribution deal with Time Warner in 1999, it surrendered its home video rights to the a.a.p. library to Warner Home Video, restoring full rights to the pre-August 1948 cartoons to Warner Bros.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/MGM+REGAINS+VIDEO+RIGHTS%253B+$225+MILLION+DEAL+TO+HELP+SELL+DVDS.-a083605917|title=MGM regains video rights; $225 million deal to help sell DVDs. - Free Online Library|website=www.thefreelibrary.com|access-date=2016-09-09|archive-date=2018-04-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180411111537/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/MGM+REGAINS+VIDEO+RIGHTS%253B+$225+MILLION+DEAL+TO+HELP+SELL+DVDS.-a083605917|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Goldstein |first=Seth |date=27 March 1999 |title=MGM Buys Its Freedom, Pays Warner Vid To End Distrib Deal |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Billboard-Index/IDX/1999/1999-03-27-Billboard-Page-0006.pdf |access-date=6 March 2024 |website=World Radio History}}</ref>

Starting in 1960, the cartoons were repackaged into several different TV programs that remained popular for several decades before being purchased by Turner Broadcasting System.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Looney Tunes on Television |url=http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/tv/ |access-date=November 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202172431/http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/tv/ |archive-date=December 2, 2010}}</ref> Turner's [[Cartoon Network]] reran the cartoons from its launch in 1992 until 2004, again from 2009 until 2017, and making a temporary return in April 2023 to celebrate WB's 100th anniversary. ''The Looney Tunes Show'' (not to be confused with the 2010s animated series of [[The Looney Tunes Show|the same name]]), an early 2000s anthology produced by Warner Bros. Animation for the network, was broadcast from 2001<ref name="tvschedulearchive">{{Cite web |title=The New Nick & More! Is Coming This Month! |url=https://www.tvschedulearchive.com/cartoon-network/2001/090201.txt |access-date=August 16, 2015 |publisher=tvschedulearchive.com |archive-date=July 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701001456/http://www.tvschedulearchive.com/cartoon-network/2001/090201.txt |url-status=live }}</ref> to 2004. The show featured shorts from the original ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' theatrical series. As of 2025, classic cartoons continue to air on CN's sister channels [[Boomerang (TV network)|Boomerang]] and [[Discovery Family]] and are licensed to [[Weigel Broadcasting]]-owned [[MeTV]]. Starting in 2024, the classic cartoons began airing on MeTV's sister channel [[MeTV Toons]].  

Five dozen ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts from before December 1943 have lapsed into the [[public domain]] and are thus freely distributed through various unofficial releases.