I’ve been getting questions about the Friendly case since the story I wrote appeared in the Homesteader, including one from an interested reader at this site.
“How can this so-called Friendly group have the rights to a book title? Did Laura’s daughter sign them over or what?” — Janine Johnson, Orlando, Fla.
This is actually a fundamental part of the argument between Friendly productions and the Little House site in Independence, Kansas, both of whom claim to own the rights to the phrase “Little House on the Prairie” for merchandising purchases. According to the court filing:
* Roger Lea MacBride, heir to the Wilder-Lane estate, allegedly sold the rights to the book “Little House on the Prairie” to Ed Friendly Productions (the predecessor to the current Friendly Family Productions LLC) in 1974. Friendly bought the rights to “exploit” the book “on television, in motion pictures and in theme parks.”
* Under that the title “Little House on the Prairie,” Friendly sold a variety of products tied into its original series, making that title–referred to as the “mark”–”an extremely valuable asset” that Friendly was poised to exploit, again, in connection with the stage musical. (The term “exploit” is used in the court filing, and should not be construed as negative.)
* The non-profit organization “Little House on the Prairie,” which runs a museum on the site of the Ingalls home in Independence, Kansas, acquired the rights to the domain name “littlehouseontheprairie.com” in 2001, and began to offer sales of LHOP merchandise online. Up until this time, court documents say, their sales were local. It’s at this point that Friendly says LHOP began infringing on their rights.
* LHOP, the site, registered the trademark “Little House on the Prairie” in 2005.
So, the question is, who actually holds the trademark and has the right to exploit the title “Little House on the Prairie”? Friendly thought it worth suing to find out. As the case makes its way through the system, we’ll keep you posted.