Sony Least the Rights to Spiderman to Marvel

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2.1: Practices Involving the Business Negotiation

In business negotiation, the process is touted to start with a few planned steps to make sure the future negotiation plan is going well. As mentioned before, the first vital step would be to do negotiator selection and training, where various criteria are identified among the selected individuals to create negotiating teams, and the general targets and specific qualities are judged in here. Next we will have the negotiators go through several training methods such as basic skill development, lectures, negotiation simulation and case studies.

Next, we have pre-negotiation activities, in which the planning stage of a negotiation takes place. Team members will have the time to brainstorm ideas and come out with suggestion during this session, while also planning the agenda for the team’s plan. Necessary information will also be gathered from the credible sources to further solidify the team’s standing point in the upcoming negotiation.

Then comes the time to implement the negotiation strategies, which can critically affects the negotiation outcome. Generally speaking, the first and common practice is to share information. Be it with your team members and/or your opposing negotiation team, sharing information can usually turn the tide of the situation to favor your side. You should also rank your priorities accordingly, as each and every person’s opinions differ, so there are needs to make sure the most important target is known and been kept well in mind during the negotiation process.

When having a negotiation, always try to set up your target price and your walkaway terms, since by knowing your own range of price, and with the backup of doing research ahead of time to identify it, you can be clear about your limits. When it is time to start the business part, try to be the initiator in bidding price, and be prepared to counter any offers that aren’t up for your standard. A well negotiated deal between the two parties might encourage more follow-up deals in the future, thus benefitting both sides.

3.0 Background of Case Study

3.1 Parties Involve In Case Study

Based on this case study, the parties involved in the negotiation are Sony Pictures Entertainment and Marvel Studios. Both parties wanted to solve disputes about the character Spider-Man (will be explained further in next subtopic).

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) or more commonly known as Sony Pictures, is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation (The Studio Sony Pictures, n.d.). It is an American entertainment company that globally produces, acquires and distributes filmed entertainment such as theatrical motion pictures, television programs and recorded videos, through multiple platforms. They also create and distribute digital content, operate studio facilities and develop new entertainment products, services and technologies. Sony Pictures in considered as one of Hollywood’s major film studios and is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America. Some of SPE’s popular film franchises are Men in Black, Underworld, Resident Evil and Hotel Transylvania, including Spider-Man, the goal of the particular negotiation.

Originally known as Marvel Films until 1996, Marvel Studios, LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (About Marvel, n.d.). It is an American motion picture studio based at The Walt Disney Studios in California and is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies. Over seventy years, Marvel Entertainment has a collection of more than 8000 characters featured in a variety of media. It utilizes the character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. The studio is dedicated to producing films based on Marvel Comics characters which includes X-Men, Captain America and Iron Man. Since 2008, 14 films has been released within the Marvel Cinematic Universe starting with Iron Man to Doctor Strange which screened in 2016. These films share continuity with each other and the characters even featured in the same movie like Captain America: Civil War in 2016.

3.2 Chronology of Case Study

Spider-Man is a fictional superhero character which originally appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics (Marvel.com, 2015). Writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko are the creators and its first appearance was in the comic book Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962. Spider-Man is one of the most popular and commercially successful superheroes and was considered as Marvel’s company mascot at that time. He has featured in various forms of media including animated and live-action television series, newspaper comic strips and series of films. The first live-action film was first screened in 1969 entitled Spider-Man to latest film where Spider-Man featured in Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War in 2016.

Marvel Comics is the first party to hold the right to Spider-Man as it was first published under the company. However, in 1985, the rights to furthers films featuring the character were purchased and moved through various production companies and studios before Sony Pictures Entertainment hit the jackpot in 1999 therefore secured it. Famous producer Samuel M Raimi (Sam Raimi) was then hired to direct the films Spider-Man in 2002, Spider-Man 2 in 2004 and Spider Man 3 (2007). The first two films received positive reviews from critics but the third film got mixed reviews. Sony decided to fix the situation and also compete with Marvel Cinematic Universe by rebooting the franchise in an announcement in 2010. They hired new director and casted new actors to release The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012. The movie gained good reviews. However, the second movie The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) flopped as the profit does not suffice the initial budget of producing the film.

In the same period, Marvel Studios is steadily rising its fame and profits with its range of blockbusters films from Iron Man, Captain America to Guardian of the Galaxy. Their reputation of making great movies are highly praised especially by fans of the comic characters. Following the hack incident regarding Sony’s website in 2014, it was confirmed that Marvel Studios was in talk with Sony regarding the rights to Spider-Man film producing.

In February 2005, Sony and Marvel Studios announced a deal to share the Spider-Man film rights. Originally, Marvel Studios have been trying to buy back Spider-Man character from Sony but was strongly rejected. Nonetheless, they manage to negotiate and come up with a partnership where