Paws, Inc.

Paws, Inc., doing business as Paws, Incorporated, is an American comic studio and production company founded by American cartoonist Jim Davis in 1981[1] to support the Garfield comic strips and its licensing. The company is located inside Paramount Global's headquarters building in New York City. It was originally located in Muncie, Indiana, relocated in 1989 from Davis' own farm when he was a boy.[2]

Paws, Inc.

Trade name	Paws Incorporated
Type	Privately held company (1981–2019) Subsidiary (2019–present)
Industry	Entertainment
Founded	1981 (1981) Muncie, Indiana
Founder	Jim Davis
Headquarters	One Astor Plaza, Manhattan New York City, New York , United States
Products	Film production, television production, comics, films
Brands	Garfield
Owner	Jim Davis (1981–2019) Viacom (2019) Paramount Global (2019–present)
Parent	Nickelodeon Group (2019–present)

In 1994, the company purchased all rights to the classic Garfield comic strips from 1978 to 1993 from United Feature Syndicate, although United still holds the original black-and-white daily strips and original color Sunday strips. The full-color daily strips and recolored Sunday strips are copyrighted to Paws as they are considered a different product. The strip is currently distributed by Andrews McMeel Syndication (formerly Universal Press Syndicate and Universal Uclick), while rights for the strip remain with Paws, Inc. By 2015, the company employed almost fifty artists and administrators.[3]

In 2019, Davis sold Paws, Inc. to Viacom (now known as Paramount Global), including global merchandising and existing licensees. The deal put Paws under Viacom's Nickelodeon banner (which itself is part of its Kids & Family division).[4] The deal excluded the rights to the live-action Garfield films from 2004 to 2006, which are now owned by The Walt Disney Company through its 20th Century Studios label,[4] as well as the upcoming animated film The Garfield Movie, which will be distributed by Sony Pictures under its Columbia Pictures label.[5] Although Paws, Inc. is now effectively located in Manhattan, Davis will continue to draw the comic strips in Indiana for newspapers and Andrews McMeel Syndication.[6]