Allan Feldman of LMCA, Dell Furano of Epic Rights and Cyril Speijer of Wavery Productions will be inducted this May at Licensing Expo.

For the first time in 25 years, the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association has selected three industry executives to join the Licensing Hall of Fame this year.

Allan Feldman, chief executive officer and founder of LMCA; Dell Furano, chief executive officer and founder of Epic Rights; and Cyril Speijer, former chief executive officer of Wavery Productions and current co-principal of BN Licensing will be honored at the annual LIMA Awards Ceremony, May 23, during Licensing Expo 2017, in Las Vegas, Nev.

“We are honoring three outstanding licensing professionals who are leaders in their fields and who have helped lay a strong foundation for our thriving industry,” says Charles Riotto, president, LIMA. “All three–Allan Feldman, Dell Furano and Cyril Speijer–are innovators with decades of success who have broken new ground in brand, music and character licensing. Both individually and together, they are an impressive addition to the Licensing Hall of Fame.”

With more than 40 years in the business, Feldman is credited with a long list of firsts. Among them, he is recognized as the first to bring trademark licensing into industrial products. He was also among the first to utilize direct-to-retail licensees and implement a co-branding deal.

Feldman is also a former LIMA board member and served on two LIMA committees. He is also a member of the Licensing Executives Society and International Trademark Association as well as a board member of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s New York District Export Council and the Intellectual Property Management Institute. Additionally, he was a member of LIMA’s first delegation to China and helped bring the organization and licensing to Asia.

Also with more than 40 years of experience, Furano is considered a “true legend” in the music licensing and merchandising industry. He has directed the merchandising and licensing efforts for top names in the industry including The Beatles, KISS, Madonna, U2, AC/DC, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin and more. Additionally, he has launched major retail branding programs for artists such as Britney Spears, Run DMC, Jessica Simpson, Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, Ozzy Osbourne, The Police and more.

Furano currently helms Epic Rights, which he founded in 2013. Prior, he was the founder and chief executive officer of Sony Signatures, later renamed Signatures Network, and became CEO of Live Nation Merchandise when he sold the company to Live Nation.

Finally, Speijer and his Wavery Productions have been a “go-to agent” for character and brand licensing for more than 50 years in his native Netherlands. Under his leadership, Wavery has managed the rights to characters Asterix & Obelix as well as Lucky Lucke. He has also partnered with LucasFilm, Universal, EON Productions, United Media, Paws, The Jim Henson Company, Peanuts Worldwide and many others.

Speijer is also the second international executive to be inducted into the Licensing Hall of Fame and is a former LIMA board member as well as the 1995 recipient of the LIMA Beanie International Licensing Agent award.