The Sticky Question of Rights (or Network Property Rights are a Real Good Sausage)

Dedicated Dominion fans are making a concerted push to try to get the show picked up by Netflix. Their goal is to have Netflix carry the show as well as produce new seasons of it. 

So, this begs the question: Who do the fans tell Netflix to talk to?  The quick answer to that is Universal Cable Productions, although likely the actual rights are handled by NBCUniversal Television Distribution because they are the arm that handles syndication.  But, Dominion was a co-production involving numerous other entities, who might hold rights to ultimate syndication or production agreements. (Full disclosure...I do NOT have copies of any legal agreements. This is based on informal information that I've been given or gleaned by research).

Does SyFy own the rights to Dominion? No. SyFy is an network within the NBCUniversal conglomerate, but it doesn't own the rights (it declined to ORDER a third season).

Does Vaun Wilmott own the rights to Dominion? No. He is considered the creator of the show, which is based in part on the 2010 movie Legion (another rights headache), but he does not own the rights to the show.

What is the difference between Universal Cable Productions (UCP) and SyFy? SyFy is a network. They order and broadcast shows. UCP creates content for distribution (they are a production company).

Why isn't/wasn't Dominion shown on ALL SyFy channels in other countries? Because those channels are actually independent and choose to order content. There is no one SyFy head that can order all the channels to carry the content.

Then, what is NBCUniversal? Besides having an incredibly boring logo now, it is effectively a joint venture and a conglomerate of associated businesses. See below for an illustration of all its businesses. This website explains this: http://www.nbcuniversal.com/who-we-are. Comcast acquired NBCUniversal in 2011, but it is a joint venture between Comcast and General Electric [Correction: as of 2013, Comcast purchased the balance from GE, so it solely owns NBCUniversal, who might want to correct its own website]. 

Netflix has the rights to show NBCUniversal shows. Doesn't that mean they can just choose to produce Dominion? No. Universal Cable Productions, or NBCUniversal Television Distribution is the entity which can decide the ultimate distribution and future production of the show. Netflix likely will have the rights to SHOW Dominion in the future, but would have to negotiate to obtain the licensing rights to MAKE or ORDER the show to be produced.

NBC Universal Companies