International Literary Properties

What International Literary Properties does

International Literary Properties (ILP) is a global literary and theatrical estate management company founded in 2020 that acquires and manages the rights to estates of major authors and playwrights. The company currently oversees a portfolio of more than 100 author and playwright estates, including Tennessee Williams, Georgette Heyer, Jean Shepherd, Paddy Chayefsky, Alfred Uhry, Marsha Norman, and Ellen Raskin. ILP organizes its operations into three divisions — ILP Literary, ILP Theatrical, and ILP Global Franchise Management — and serves theatrical producers (Broadway, West End, regional), film and television studios, book publishers, and consumer products licensees.

The company's core "product" is its portfolio of acquired and managed estates, which generate royalty income through licensing and rights-clearance contracts. ILP monetizes these rights through multiple revenue streams: theatrical licensing for live stage productions, film and television optioning, book publishing royalties, and consumer products licensing (with consumer products commercialization formalized through the ILP Global Franchise Management division and the company's Licensing Expo 2026 debut). The firm has been an active consolidator in the estate management space, completing multiple estate acquisitions during 2025 that effectively doubled portfolio size. ILP has secured backing from private equity, entering into a partnership with Viking Global Investors in 2022 and closing a $100 million debt facility from Fifth Third Bank in January 2026 to fund continued acquisitions and growth.

ILP is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Los Angeles, and Austin, and operates with a workforce of 11 to 50 employees. The leadership team combines industry veterans in theatrical and literary rights (Lucinda Dyer, Nicole McGrath, Judy Alberti Barra) with more recently added senior executives covering finance, acquisitions, and theatrical operations (Bassuk, Meader, Nicholson, Mariani). The business is fundamentally a rights-management company rather than a technology company, and revenue is generated through ongoing royalty participation in derivative works across the global entertainment and consumer products markets.

Name

International Literary Properties

Legal name

International Literary Properties LLC and International Literary Properties UK Ltd

Website

https://internationalliteraryproperties.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

International Literary Properties is a global literary and theatrical estate management company founded in 2020 that acquires and manages rights to 100+ author and playwright estates, monetizing theatrical, film/TV, publishing, and consumer products licensing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literary and Theatrical Intellectual Property Management

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Genre & Category Publishing (Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Sci‑Fi/Fantasy, etc.) (MPAJAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Contracting, Licensing & Rights Management (Music/Performance Releases) (HSACAHAM), Format & Remake Rights Licensing (MPADALAB)

Keywords

• Literary estate management
• Theatrical licensing services
• Intellectual property rights
• Film and TV adaptation rights
• Consumer products licensing

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Literary Estate Management: Managing and stewarding literary estates for authors, playwrights, and their heirs, generating revenue through licensing fees and estate management services.
2. Theatrical Licensing: Licensing stage rights for plays and musicals to producers for Broadway, West End, and touring productions.
3. Film & TV Rights: Facilitating adaptation rights for literary works to film and television producers.
4. Consumer Products Licensing: Extending literary properties into consumer products including fashion collections (Fashion Noir inspired by James M. Cain), lifestyle brands, and merchandise.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

International Literary Properties acquires, manages, and licenses literary and theatrical intellectual property rights through three divisions: ILP Literary (book publishing rights), ILP Theatrical (play and stage musical grand rights), and ILP Global Franchise Management (brand extension and consumer products). It generates revenue by licensing theatrical rights to live producers, adaptation rights to film/TV producers, publishing rights to publishers, and consumer products rights to brand licensees, while providing professional estate stewardship to authors, playwrights, and heirs.

Product overview

International Literary Properties (ILP) is a global literary and theatrical estate management company organized into three divisions: ILP Literary (managing book publishing rights and literary estates across fiction, non-fiction, and children's categories), ILP Theatrical (managing play rights and stage musical grand rights), and ILP Global Franchise Management (overseeing global licensing and brand extension). The company owns and manages intellectual property for over 100 authors and playwrights, including theatrical properties such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Christmas Story: The Musical, Chicago, Driving Miss Daisy, Parade, Guys and Dolls, Network, and The Westing Game, as well as literary estates including those of James M. Cain, Georgette Heyer, Langston Hughes, and Tennessee Williams. ILP also extends its IP into consumer products through initiatives like the Fashion Noir fashion collection inspired by Cain's work.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ILP Literary: The literary division of International Literary Properties that manages book publishing rights and literary estates.
• ILP Theatrical
• Fashion Noir

Products and services

• ILP Literary Estate Management Services Professional stewardship and rights management of literary estates for authors, playwrights, librettists, lyricists, composers, and their heirs. Services include managing book publishing rights, licensing adaptations, and optimizing revenue while preserving creative intent.
• ILP Theatrical Licensing Services Licensing of play rights and stage musical grand rights to theatrical producers for Broadway, West End, touring, regional, community, and educational productions worldwide.
• ILP Global Franchise Management Services Oversight of global licensing and brand extension activities for ILP's portfolio, including consumer products, fashion, lifestyle, and merchandise licensing partnerships.
• Film & TV Adaptation Rights Licensing Licensing of literary and theatrical adaptation rights to film and television producers and studios for screen adaptations.
• Fashion Noir Collection A designer fashion apparel and accessories collection inspired by James M. Cain's noir novels, extending ILP's literary IP into the consumer products category.

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered major and minor.

• Dalfie Entertainment IncmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 October 2025Dalfie Entertainment Inc represented Jean Shepherd's literary estate and will continue as consultant to ILP following the acquisition.
• Simcha Productions, Inc.majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 August 2025Strategic partnership with Simcha Productions (Paddy Chayefsky's production company) for the literary works of Paddy Chayefsky.
• Dan ChayefskymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 August 2025Paddy Chayefsky's son and President of Simcha Productions, representing the estate interests in the partnership.
• Kent NicholsonminorOthers · 1 January 2025Joined ILP as SVP, Global Franchise Management; previously at Broadway Licensing Global.
• Jessica MarianiminorOthers · 1 January 2025Joined ILP as VP, Legal & Business Affairs; previously at NBCUniversal.
• The University of the SouthmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerILP's theatrical division co-manages Tennessee Williams works with the University of the South.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights8 records

Direct peers

• Dramatists Play Service: Long-standing non-profit theatrical licensing agency licensing works to educational and community theaters. Named by ILP as one of its distribution channels and a direct competitor in amateur/educational licensing.
• Concord Theatricals: Concord is the largest U.S. theatrical licensing agent, licensing plays and musicals to professional and amateur producers globally. ILP directly names Concord as a distribution partner but it is also a competitor chasing the same theatrical rights for stage productions.
• Music Theatre International: MTI licenses musical properties (including many catalog acquisitions) to schools, community theaters, and professional producers. Closely comparable business to ILP Theatrical for staging rights to musicals such as Guys and Dolls-related properties.
• Broadway Licensing Global (formerly R&H Theatricals): BLG handles licensing for the Rodgers & Hammerstein catalog and other major estates (including Disney Music Group properties). ILP has hired multiple executives directly from BLG, and the two compete for the same theatrical licensing customers and estates.

Broad incumbents

• Primary Wave Music: PE-backed (among others) acquirer and administrator of music catalogs, focusing on publishing rights, recording royalties, and brand extensions. Same conceptual playbook as ILP but applied to music rather than literary/theatrical estates. ILP's CFO previously came from a similar music-catalog vehicle (Round Hill Music).
• Hipgnosis Songs Fund / Hipgnosis Songs Capital: Acquired music catalogs at scale for hundreds of millions of dollars; pioneered the financialization of song rights. Conceptually the nearest publicly-discussed analog to ILP's PE-backed model applied to intellectual property, though Hipgnosis focused on music rather than literary/theatrical works.

Others

• Sillerman / Sillerman IP Acquisitions (and similar IP investment vehicles): Family-office and IP-acquisition vehicles (e.g., the Siller family's earlier music catalog acquisitions, plus more recent catalog-investment funds) that buy rights in entertainment IP as a financial asset class. They invest in the same underlying value pool (entertainment IP rights) ILP is acquiring, often competing as buyers in estate sales.

Regional players

• Boosey & Hawkes: Classical music publisher and theatrical/licensing rights administrator with deep stage-performance experience (e.g., Stravinsky, Britten, Strauss). Comparable in administering dramatic-stage and grand rights for an established catalog, though predominantly classical music and Europe-focused.

Emerging players

• Round Hill Music: PE-backed acquirer and administrator of music publishing and master rights. The most direct structural analog to ILP's model (acquire catalog + license across formats), though Round Hill operates in music, not literary IP. Amanda Siconolfi, ILP's CFO, previously served as CFO at Round Hill.
• Chorion: UK-based literary estate and children's IP manager (Noddy, Agatha Christie, Beatrix Potter at various times). Mary Durkan, ILP Literary's President, previously served as MD of Literary Estates and Television at Chorion, making it a directly comparable estate-management peer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/ilp_literary
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/international-literary-properties

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about International Literary Properties