Paws Incorporated (legally known as Paws, Inc.) is a comic studio and production company owned by Jim Davis and ViacomCBS through Nickelodeon. Paws Inc. is home to the Garfield which also spun off another comic strip, U.S Acres. Originally, United Feature Syndicate held all the rights to the Garfield comic strips but this only includes the black and white strips. All colored strips are copyrighted by ViacomCBS.
In August 2019, ViacomCBS purchased the rights to Paws, Inc which also includes merchandise. Jim Davis will continue to create comic strips for Garfield.
History[]
Paws Incorporated also known as Paws, Inc., is an American comic studio and production company founded by American cartoonist Jim Davis in 1981[1] to support the Garfield comic strips and its licensing. The company was originally located in Davis' home state of Indiana. Its building was established in Muncie in 1989, relocated from Davis' own farm when he was a boy.[2]
In 1994, the company purchased all rights to the classic Garfield comic strips from 1978 to 1993 from United Feature Syndicate, although United still holds the original black-and-white daily strips and original color Sunday strips. The full-color daily strips and recolored Sunday strips are copyrighted to Paws as they are considered a different product. The strip is currently distributed by Andrews McMeel Syndication (formerly Universal Press Syndicate and Universal Uclick), while rights for the strip remain with Paws, Inc. By 2015, the company employed almost fifty artists and administrators.[3]
In 2019, Davis sold Paws, Inc. to Viacom (now known as Paramount Global), including global merchandising and existing licensees. The deal put Paws under Viacom's Nickelodeon banner (which itself is part of its Kids & Family division). Although Paws, Inc. is now effectively located in Manhattan, Davis will continue to draw the comic strips in Indiana for newspapers and Andrews McMeel Syndication.[4]
References[]
- ↑ Kirby, Audrey J. (June 4, 2019). "Garfield HQ up for sale, proceeds to support Ball State Foundation".
- ↑ Shuey, Mickey (2018-06-19). "On the prowl: Behind the scenes at Garfield HQ".
- ↑ "Today in Comics History: A Celebration of Garfield" (June 19, 2015).
- ↑ Porter, Rick (2019-08-06). "New 'Garfield' Series Set at Nickelodeon". Hollywood Reporter.
External Links[]
- Garfield wiki
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paws,_Inc.
