Mauricio de Sousa Productions: comic success underpinned by intellectual property

• Author: Ceci Almeida
• Position: Freelance writer

Intellectual property underpins MSP’s thriving business

Mauricio de Sousa, creator of Brazil’s most popular comic series,

Mônica’s Friends. (Photo: Courtesy of MSP)

The cartoonist’s company, MSP, has become a leading player in Brazil’s publishing market, with a product portfolio that extends well beyond comic books and includes animated films, stage shows, theme parks, computer games and cuddly toys. Copyright and trademark licensing of the artist’s cartoon characters underpin MSP’s business strategy.

From the outset, Mr. de Sousa had his eye on building his business. At first, he began marketing his printed works and as his cartoon characters gained popularity, he began licensing his works to consumer goods companies. Intellectual property (IP) has been central to the cartoonist’s business strategy from day one.

In 1966, the company registered its first trademark in Brazil for its much-loved canine comic character, Bidu. All of MSP’s creations are now protected with the trademark, Turma da Mônica, which has been registered in 20 countries in Asia, Europe, North and South America.

Over the last 60 years, Mr. de Sousa has focused as much on his creative work as on his business affairs. The company’s earnings have soared. Since the release of its first comic book in 1970, MSP has created over 400 new characters and sold more than 1.2 billion comics and books. Generations of children have learned to read thanks to the adventures of the cartoon character, Mônica.

With over 300 different titles, MSP sells some 2.5 million comic books every month to a loyal audience of 10 million readers. MSP´s publishing business employs around 400 people, 150 of whom are artists.

During the 1980s, MSP began producing feature films and animated series, which further boosted financial returns. Its first feature film, The Adventures of Mônica’s Gang (As Aventuras da Turma da Mônica), has been followed by seven others. MSP’s animated series are broadcast on TV channels such as Cartoon Networks and Boomerang and on all online platforms. Mônica´s Friends’ website has become the leading children’s website in Brazil with 1 million-page views every day.

On YouTube, MSP has a variety of channels including Turma da Mônica, Mónica y sus Amigos and Mónica Toy Official, which are translated into Spanish and English. The Turma da Mônica channel alone has almost 17 million subscribers and reaches 450 million-page views every month. MSP also runs the Turma da Mônica TV app and offers a range of games. Most viewers − around 66 percent of them − live outside Brazil, in Mexico, the Russian Federation and the USA. MSP also has a strong social media following on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and Twitter.

Although his talents as a cartoonist and an astute entrepreneur have earned him a reputation as the “Walt Disney of Brazil”, Mr. de Sousa is strongly...