Britney Spears™ is a brand name every bit as marketable as Coca-Cola or Nike. If you look closely at the fine print on any of the myriad of official Britney products, you'll see a statement of the ownership of the merchandise's copyright by Britney Brands, Inc.
The corporation seems to be trying to keep a low profile, and has no website of its own, but it has registered the domains britneyspears.com and officialbritney.com, both of which are being used for "official" Britney sites with a www. in front of the domain name.
Britney Brands seems to have been quite successful in licensing the name, image, and sound of their product client. Though there doesn't seem to be any centralized source of information regarding the company, I managed to dig up the following tidbits:
- Contracted with itoymaker.com to produce interactive online Britney programming.
"This production demonstrates that by combining brand marketing and creative applications of leading technology, iToymaker delivers winning solutions both online and off. The Britney 3D trailer only scratches the surface of what we’re planning to do on behalf of Britney Spears."
-http://www.itoymaker.com/news2.html
- Granted video game maker THQ exclusive rights to produce Britney games.
""Britney’s move into interactive entertainment is a natural extension for the Britney brand," stated Britney Spears Co-Manager Larry Rudolph, Rudolph & Beer, LLC. "The explosive growth in the interactive category driven by new gaming technologies means fans can look forward to an ultra-realistic adventure through Britney’s world."" -http://www.vgarena.com/news/news002.htm
- A major licensing coup with Britney glasses.
"The Shades of Britney eyewear feature the Britney Spears fairy tattoo logo and/or Britney's signature.
There are two different lines of Shades of Britney eyewear,
a mass merchant that retails for $20 and $16
and an optical store line." -http://www.shadesofbritney.com/
- Broke a contract and got sued.
"Chicago-based DNA Visual Business Solutions filed a complaint in federal
court in Chicago against Britney Spears, her marketing company, Britney
Brands, Inc. and Signatures SNI, Inc. for failure to pay for the design
and development of the BritneySpears.com website."
-http://e-newsletters.internet.com/samples/chicago.internet.com-text.html