> May told the publisher, Maxton Books for Little People, that he couldn’t agree to a publishing deal because he didn’t own the copyright in the story he had written.

> Apparently, that state of affairs didn’t sit well with those in charge at Montgomery Ward and the president of the company, Sewall Avery, gave May back the copyright in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The book was published on October 4, 1947.

Seems hard to believe it was truly that simple, I wonder what additional nuance there might be to it.

Though I have no idea where I'd even begin to research that besides random web searches.

Simple is more likely than complicated, I would think. Given no law suites were involved.

It probably isn't a coincidence that a goodwill gesture was made in the context of a good corporate Christmas story already, around the generation of a new Christmas story. The company's story behind the story got better, while no doubt feeling like a genuine act of good by the decision maker.

I looked up Montgomery Ward on Wikipedia. It seems very plausible there's no nuance at all.