A tie-in is an authorized product that is based on an existing or upcoming media property, such as a movie or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie -ins are released primarily as a way of creating additional income from a property, but also as a means of promotion and increasing the public visibility and awareness of the property.

Tie-ins are authorized and approved by the owner of the property on which they are based, and some portion of the income flows back to the owner, often in the form of license fees or royalties.

Stories, novels, and other literary works produced by fans of the work, done without authorization and approval of the owners (often in technical violation of copyright and/or trademark law), and on a non-commercial basis are known as fan fiction or fanfic.

Common tie-in products include:

• novelizations or novelisations: novels based upon (usually expanding or elaborating on the source material) movies, television shows, computer games, etc.
• Original novels or story-collections featuring original stories based upon or inspired by the original property.
• re-branding of an existing novel or book with logos, artwork, photographs, or text derived from a movie, television show, or other media release based on that book (examples being movie-themed releases of the original novels Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia)
• "making-of" books or television specials
• a computer or video game based on the movie
• a soundtrack, either featuring the film score, songs featured in the film, or occasionally songs "inspired by the film"
• collectable merchandise, such as action figure toys or board games
• merchandise of all types exploiting logos, characters, images, catch-phrases from the property. Such merchandise often has absolutely no connection to the property other than the use of logos or other trademarks to enhance sales (examples being apparel, particularly caps and T-shirts).

Tie-ins are considered an important part of the revenue-stream for any major media release, and planning, and licensing for such works often begins at the very earliest stages of creating such a property.

The lineage of tie-in works can be quite convoluted. For example, a novelization might be done of a computer game, which was based on a television show, based on a movie, based on a comic book which was the orignal media property. In several cases, a novelization has been released based on a movie which was in turn adapted from an original novel. In such cases, it is not uncommon to see the novelization and a movie release of the original novel side-by-side on the same shelf.

Tie-ins provide both an important way of generating additional income from a property, and a way of satisfying the desires of fans who can't get enough of a popular media property.

External links

• The International Association of Media Tie-in Writers