Incorrigible Monkey is subject of $1 million licensing rights suit. (Media & Technology).

Curious George goes to court?

Hanna-Barbera Productions Inc. and Jon Shapiro, who acquired the rights to "Curious George" in 1989, have sued Universal City Studios Inc. and Imagine Entertainment for breaching a contract to pay them more than 1 percent of merchandising fees related to the meddlesome monkey.

Those fees, they say, amount to more than $1 million.

The suit, filed on Jan. 16, in L.A. Superior Court, comes as Universal and Imagine are in talks to produce a live action or animated film featuring "Curious George."

"What frequently will happen is when a large production is about to get under way, word about that spreads quickly in the entertainment community," said Paul Supnik, an entertainment and trademark attorney at Berkowitz Black & Zolke PC in Beverly Hills, who is not involved in the suit. "The fact that it is brought in conjunction with Hanna-Barbera suggests to me there's more strength in the agreement in the litigation than in a lawsuit that is often brought, shall we say, by the creator against a studio."

Calls to Imagine were referred to Universal's parent company, Vivendi Universal Entertainment, whose spokespeople declined comment. Vivendi Universal did confirm that a live action and animation film featuring "Curious George" was in development.

Calls to the attorneys representing Hanna-Barbera and Shapiro were not returned.

According to the suit, Shapiro acquired the rights to "Curious George" created in 1941 by Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey, in 1989. The "Curious George" books have sold 25 million copies, according to publisher Houghton Mifflin Co. Houghton was a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal until December, when it was sold to an investment group for $1.66 billion.

In his deal with the Reys, who have since died, Shapiro received exclusive rights for movies, television, video, soundtrack and merchandising, according to court documents.

Preparing to make a feature film, Shapiro in 1990 assigned half of his "Curious George" rights to Hanna-Barbera, creator of television characters "Scooby Doo," "Tom and Jerry" and "The Flintstones." Hanna-Barbera is now a subsidiary of Warner Bros.

Shapiro and Hanna-Barbera assigned the rights to Imagine Entertainment in exchange for 10 percent of all gross proceeds of worldwide merchandising rights, according the suit. Imagine in turn assigned its rights to Universal, which has "failed and refused to account to plaintiffs for any merchandising revenue so derived," the suit says.

Shapiro and Hanna-Barbera said several attempts were made to contact Universal since Jan. 15, 2002, and on July 24, 2002, Universal replied with a lengthy letter stating the merchandising agreement applies only to Imagine, the suit says.