On the rights trail

Much has been made of the fact that broadcast license fees aren't what they once were. These days, distributors and producers have to cut more deals and slice available program and territory rights and windows ever-more finely to make productions pay. And in order to make the most of what they've got, these companies need to know, well, what they've got. Undiscovered windows and expiring license deals languishing on un-tracked contracts can mean there's a lot of cash left lying on the table. Add to that the plethora of new rights created by the recent explosion of digital distribution channels, and it becomes apparent that no mere mortal, regardless of their Microsoft Office mastery, can possibly keep up.