Lawsuit Settled in “Yu-Gi-Oh!” Licensing Case

NEW YORK, Mar 01, 2012 — 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. , the global children’s entertainment and merchandise licensing company, and Asatsu-DK Inc. (“ADK”) and TV Tokyo, announced today that they have reached a settlement of the lawsuit brought against 4Kids by ADK and TV Tokyo, the licensors of the Yu-Gi-Oh! property. The settlement agreement recognizes that the Yu-Gi-Oh! agreement among 4Kids, ADK and TV Tokyo is in full force and effect with 4Kids continuing to serve as the exclusive licensing agent for the merchandise licensing, television broadcast and home video rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! property throughout the world outside of Asia.

The settlement agreement does not constitute an admission by any party of any liability or fault but rather reflects the decision by the parties to work together amicably for the continued success of the Yu-Gi-Oh! property.

“We are very pleased that the Yu-Gi-Oh! litigation has been settled,” said Michael Goldstein, interim Chairman of 4Kids. “We are looking forward to continuing to work with our long-standing partners ADK, TV Tokyo, Shueisha and Konami on the Yu-Gi-Oh! brand and on the new Yu-Gi-Oh! television series,Zexal.”

“The settlement of the litigation enables the Yu-Gi-Oh! Consortium and its partner 4Kids to focus all of their energy on the Yu-Gi-Oh! brand,” said Makoto Nakamura, CEO and President of Nihon Ad Systems, a subsidiary of ADK. “We are excited about the future of the Yu-Gi-Oh! property both in the US and worldwide.”