Take Nickelodeon and Spongebob for example. The late Stephen Hillenburg created the show and even had a set number of seasons he wanted before ending the show but ultimately Nick/Viacom had complete control and milked it for all it’s worth. I admit, I am ignorant to the business but if I’m the one creating the content why does the network/company get more of a say over what is done with my creation than I do?
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ELI5 – the “rights” to the show are owned by the network or the show is owned by the studio – not the creator.
Longer explanation:
A studio or network can order the creation of a show if they don’t buy the show’s right from a creator. [“Rights” mean the right to broadcast or show on cable or streaming service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcasting_rights).
So a network has to fill time on their schedule or put a show on a streaming service – they pay a studio to for that show. The studio in turn goes to someone to create a show.
The studio may want to own the entire show, not just the broadcast right, because a creator who owns the property (the scripts, the characters, the “look and feel” as it were) can take the show to *another* studio.
If the studio owns the show, they can do whatever they want – if the creator gets fired, leaves, moves on to another project – the show can continue.
So while an artist can create a show, they may not own it – even if it’s a new property – the studio does.
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