You Know My Name, sang Chris Cornell, and if there’s one name the world has never had to Google twice, it’s James Bond. The man has not just shaken; he’s stirred generations — suave in a tux, lethal with a Walther, and complex enough to make Freud sweat. But while Bond’s martinis have stayed ice cold, the battle over who actually owns him has been hotter than a jalapeño in July.

Since Ian Fleming birthed 007 in ink and espionage, the rights have ping-ponged between studios like a casino chip in Macau. Everyone wants a piece of the Bond pie — MGM, Eon, and United Artists. The spy may be immortal, but the studios? Not so much. Everyone’s wanted to babysit Bond — some just borrowed him, others clung on like a bad cold.

So, who really owns 007? Time to peel back the tux and read between the bullet holes.