Walt Disney's break with United Artists shows why founders keep IP rights
David Senra · The Outsiders Who Changed F1 Forever · Jul 22, 2025 · at 31:23
Host David Senra explains how both Bernie Ecclestone and Walt Disney protected their emerging TV rights before the format's true commercial value was obvious.
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“Don't give up future rights. Walt Disney, his, one of his heroes was Charlie Chapman. Charlie Chapman was one of the founders of United Artists. Disney had a deal with United Artists. Then when they went to re-sign, Disney refused to give United Artists the TV rights for Disney's IP at a time when there was only like a few thousand TVs in existence. And Disney was adamant about not giving up control so much so that that caused him to have to break away from one of his hero's companies because he was just completely refused to give up future rights.”
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