Golden Case Dismissed

A Delaware bankruptcy court has finally ended the Golden Books bankruptcy case, ruling earlier this month that the former children's book publisher, now known as GB Holdings Liquidation, has run out of assets.

Judge Roderick R. McKelvie ended the case after the attorney for GB Holdings Liquidation acknowledged that there were no more "available funds with which to support the continued administration of these cases."

The court also ruled in a dispute between Random House and GB Holdings over ownership of certain properties published by Golden under exclusive licenses. The court ruled that these properties under an exclusive license can be transferred along with other assets purchased during a bankruptcy proceeding. Under this ruling, Classic Media will assume control of Golden Books' exclusive licenses to video products based on the Madeline character. The ruling also affected certain cartoon characters owned by Warner Bros., although Random has decided it will not publish these properties. Classic Media will settle any claims Warner may have against GB Holdings. GB Holdings was also ordered to pay $1 million to Random.

According to Mark Radcliffe, lawyer with the firm Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich and an expert on copyright, the ruling on exclusive licenses is significant. "Since most book licenses are exclusive," said Radcliffe, "the ruling allows much more flexibility in shifting assets around in bankruptcies in the book publishing industry than in other industries."