buy the rights

verb

To acquire the legal rights to a work, property, story, or intellectual creation, especially for purposes such as publication, adaptation, or distribution.

“The studio decided to buy the rights to the novel before any competitors could bid.”

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Meanings

verbbuy the rights (third-person singular simple present buys the rights, present participle buying the rights, simple past and past participle bought the rights)

present singular third person buys the rights · participle present buying the rights · participle past bought the rights · past bought the rights

  1. idiomaticTo acquire the legal rights to a work, property, story, or intellectual creation, especially for purposes such as publication, adaptation, or distribution.

    The studio decided to buy the rights to the novel before any competitors could bid.

  2. informalUsed as a rebuke to someone seeking information for free.

    Jumped into the Chevy, headed for big lights Wanna know the rest? Hey, buy the rights.

    1995, OMC, "How Bizarre"
Cite this entry
APA

buy the rights. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20the%20rights

MLA

“buy the rights.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20the%20rights. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “buy the rights,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20the%20rights.

Source: buy the rights on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.