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In the late 1990s, Igarashi became involved in a number of legal battles related to her intellectual property rights as an illustrator. Igarashi claimed that in series for which she was the illustrator, she should hold sole intellectual property rights to the portrayals of the characters, and not need the consent of her authors to license merchandise based on their likenesses. In a dispute over the "Candy Candy" character designs in 1999, the court ruled against Igarashi, stating that both she and writer Kyoko Mizuki held equal rights to the characters, and awarded Mizuki reparations equal to 3% royalties on all the merchandise that had been created without her consent. This legal battle paralyzed the franchise for several years, interfering with Toei's production of a "Candy Candy" anime, and making the creation of new merchandise difficult due to the court's order that all merchandise be approved by both Igarashi and Mizuki, but a trickle of new merchandise was produced in 2004, suggesting some agreement had been reached.