Creator ownership in comics
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
In the United States, creator ownership in comics is an arrangement in which the comic book creator retains full ownership of the material, regardless of whether the work is self-published or published by a corporate publisher.
In some fields of
History
Early twentieth century
In 1906,
1960s
Creator-owned titles began to appear during the late-1960s
Rip Off Press was founded in 1969 by four men—two of whom were
1970s
The United Cartoon Workers of America was an informal union organized in 1970
Cartoonists' Co-Op Press was a 1973–1974 self-publishing venture by cartoonists Griffith, Spiegelman, Kim Deitch, Jerry Lane, Jay Lynch, Willy Murphy, and Diane Noomin. Like Rip Off Press, it was founded as an alternative to the existing underground publishers, which were perceived as not being honest with their accounting practices.[6]
The short-lived genre publisher Atlas/Seaboard Comics, which operated from 1974–1975, offered some of the highest rates in the industry, plus return of artwork to artists and author rights to original character creations.[7]
Up to the mid-1970s, most comic book publishers kept all original pages, in some cases destroying them in lieu of storing them safely.[8]
By 1974,
. . . I don't own the originals but I do own the rights. That means everything. Every printing right imaginable. Do what you want with the originals—put 'em in your closet, hang 'em on your wall, give 'em away, sell 'em, but, if you sell your work and the guy you sell it to sells it to the next guy and he sells it to the next guy and he sells it to the next guy—all the way down the line—and if the 17th guy who buys it, prints it somewhere without my permission, I'm going to hold you responsible.[8]
By 1975 or 1976, both DC and Marvel also began returning artists' original pages to them.[8]
During the 1970s, artist
In addition, Adams, along with the
Marvel Comics had a mixed history of responding to the issue of creator's rights. In 1978, Marvel and Howard the Duck writer Steve Gerber clashed over issues of creative control, and Gerber was abruptly removed from the series. This was the first highly publicized creator's rights case in American comics, and attracted support from major industry figures. Gerber subsequently launched a lengthy legal battle for control of Howard the Duck, culminating in a 1981 lawsuit.[13]
1980s
In 1980 Marvel created the mature readers anthology Epic Illustrated, offering its writers and artists ownership rights and royalties in place of the industry-standard work for hire contracts.[14] The success of Epic Illustrated led to the 1982 formation of the long-running imprint Epic Comics, which specialized in creator-owned titles.[citation needed]
Around this same period, however, industry legend
Beginning in the 1980s, several new publishers and imprints went into business, offering comics writers and artists the opportunity to have their work published while retaining the copyrights to the characters and the stories. Publishers like Pacific Comics and Eclipse Comics were strong promoters of creator-owned superhero properties; their enticement of popular creators (such as Kirby)[19] to their pages helped push the issue to the fore and put pressure on industry giants Marvel and DC. The alternative and independent publishers Fantagraphics and Dark Horse Comics entered the field during this period as well. Creator-owned properties allowed series to continue with multiple publishers as circumstances required; Usagi Yojimbo for instance has been published by four succeeding publishing houses.[citation needed]
In the mid-to-late 1980s, creator ownership became a cause célèbre among many comics creators, including those working in the dominant genre of superheroes. Creators' repeated clashes with DC Comics,[20][21][22][23] First Comics,[24] and other publishers led to an industry-wide debate about the issue; and in the fall of 1988, DC revised the company's work-for-hire agreements to give more power to individual creators.[25]
Writer
Creator's Bill of Rights
In November
1990s
In 1990, Creator's Bill of Rights signatory Kevin Eastman founded the creator-friendly Tundra Publishing to embody the ideals of the Bill from a publishers' standpoint. As part of the initial group who "got together to form the" Bill, Eastman felt obligated to expand it beyond theory and into practice, providing a creator-friendly forum for comics creators to work for a publisher while maintaining ownership of their work.[30] Tundra went bankrupt in 1993.[citation needed]
In 1992 a number of popular Marvel artists formed their own company,
DC's
In 1994, Dark Horse Comics founded the
References
General references
- Fantagraphics Books. Archived from the originalon June 12, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
- Winchester, Mark D. (May 1995). "Litigation and Early Comic Strips: The Lawsuits of Outcault, Dirks, and Fisher". Inks. 2 (2): 16–25.
Inline citations
- ^ Winchester 1995, p. [page needed]; Harvey 2016.
- ^ Harvey 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-914171-64-5.
- ^ a b Goodrick, Susan. "Introduction", The Apex Treasury of Underground Comics (Links Books/Quick Fox, 1974).
- ^ Young Lust #3 (Last Gasp, June 1972).
- ^ Estren, Mark. A History of Underground Comics: 20th Anniversary Edition (Ronin Publishing, 2012), pp. 251-253.
- David and Goliathstrategy is insidiously simple and outrageous—possibly even considered dirty tactics by the competition—[and consists of] such [things] as higher page rates, artwork returned to the artist, rights to the creation of an original character, and a certain amount of professional courtesy.
- ^ a b c d Cooke, Jon B. "Wrightson's Warren Days", Comic Book Artist #4 (Spring 1999).
- ^ "The Comics Guild: A Professional Guild to Protect the Rights of Visual Creators: A Report", The Comics Journal #42 (Oct. 1978), pp. 15-17.
- Frank Miller, Michael Netzer (Nasser), Martin Pasko, Carl Potts, Ralph Reese, Marshall Rogers, Josef Rubinstein, Jim Salicrup, James Sherman, Jim Shooter, Walt Simonson, Roger Slifer, Jim Starlin, Greg Theakston, Len Wein, Alan Weiss, Bob Wiacek, and Marv Wolfman.
- ISSN 0194-7869. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
- ^ Dean, Michael (2004-10-14). "An Extraordinarily Marketable Man: The Ongoing Struggle for Ownership of Superman and Superboy". The Comics Journal. 49 (263): 13–17 [16]. Archived from the original on 2006-12-01. Retrieved 2006-12-22.
- ^ "Gerber Sues Marvel over Rights to Duck", The Comics Journal #62 (Mar. 1981), pp. 11-13.
- ^ "Marvel Plans to Augment Creators' Benefits", The Comics Journal #54 (Mar. 1980), p. 13.
- ^ "The Artist Waives Any Claim the Artist May Have", The Comics Journal #105 (Feb. 1986), p. 2.
- ^ "Ploog & Kirby Quit Marvel over Contract Dispute", The Comics Journal #44 (Jan. 1979), p. 11.
- ^ "Marvel Returns Art to Kirby, Adams", The Comics Journal #116 (July 1987), p. 15.
- ^ "Neal Adams Receives Art Without Signing Marvel's Short Form", The Comics Journal #116 (July 1987), pp. 15-16.
- ^ "Jack Kirby Returns to Comics with Cosmic Hero", The Comics Journal #65 (Aug. 1981), p. 23.
- ^ Friedrich, Mike. "Ownerous Differences", The Comics Journal #121 (April 1985), p. 21.
- ^ Grant, Steven. "What Dick Said", The Comics Journal #121 (April 1985), p. 24.
- ^ Slifer, Roger. "Screwed by DC", The Comics Journal #121 (April 1985), p. 25.
- ^ McEnroe, Richard S. "Lies, Damned Lies, & Dick Giordano", The Comics Journal #121 (April 1985), pp. 25-27.
- ^ "First Comics Pays Up", The Comics Journal #110 (August 1986), pp. 9-10.
- ^ "New Contracts at DC", The Comics Journal #125 (Oct. 1988), pp. 11-13.
- ^ a b Bishop, David. Thrill-Power Overload, p. 105-106
- ^ Bishop, Thrill-Power Overload, p. 110-111
- ^ Heidi MacDonald's interview with Moore, 1 November 2005. Originally at Mile High Comics/Comicon.com's The Beat; accessed through the Internet Archive: Part 1 and Part 2. Accessed 26 September 2008.
- ^ "Creator's Rights". The Comics Journal #137 (September 1990), p. 65-71.
- ISBN 1-55611-355-2.
- ^ "Bye Bye Marvel; Here Comes Image: Portacio, Claremont, Liefeld, Jim Lee Join McFarlane's New Imprint at Malibu", The Comics Journal #148 (February 1992), pp. 11-12.
- ^ "Interview with Karen Berger", Advance Comics #49 (Capital City Distribution, January 1993).
Further reading
- Groth, Gary. "Editorial: Creator's Rights: The Latest Panacea", The Comics Journal #87 (Dec. 1983), pp. 6–8.
- The Comics Journal #121 (April 1985) — special issue on creator's rights and DC Comics:
- Friedrich, Mike. "Ownerous Differences", p. 21.
- Grant, Steven. "What Dick Said", p. 24.
- Slifer, Roger. "Screwed by DC", p. 25.
- McEnroe, Richard S. "Lies, Damned Lies, & Dick Giordano", pp. 25–27.
- McEnroe, Richard S. "Copyrights & Consequences", pp. 41–44.
- McEnroe, Richard S. "Packaging: Work-For-Hire in the Real Publishing Industry", p. 44.
- The Comics Journal #137 (Sept. 1990) — special coverage of the Creator's Bill of Rights, including the full text of the Bill:
- "Creator's Rights", pp. 65–71.
- "What Are Creators' Rights?", pp. 66–71.
- Groth, Gary. "Steven Bissette and Scott McCloud", pp. 72–92.
- Groth, Gary. "Creator vs. Corporate Ownership", pp. 101–106: on "creators' rights", Steve Bissette, Steve Saffel, and Bill Sienkiewicz.
- "Alan Moore Refuses Marvel Permission to Reprint Dr. Who Work", The Comics Journal #102 (Sept. 1985), p. 19.
- "The Work-Made-For-Hire Contract, a Legal Definition", The Comics Journal #104 (Jan. 1986), p. 11.
- "Comics Contracts: What the Various Companies Offer", The Comics Journal #113 (Dec. 1986), pp. 19–232.
- "UK Creator Rights Panel Argues the Kirby-Marvel Dispute", The Comics Journal #114 (Feb. 1987), pp. 23–24.
- Plowright, Frank. "And As Ye Reap Shall Ye Sow", The Comics Journal #122 (June 1988), p. 11: Editorial on British comics and creators' rights.
- "What the Copyright Law Says", The Comics Journal #130 (July 1989), p. 12.
- "Creator's Rights in the Real World", The Comics Journal #139 (Dec. 1990), pp. 110–114.
- Berntsen, Christian and Relkin, Richard. "Cultural Corner", Comic Culture vol. 1, #3 (Jan./Feb. 1993), pp. 16–17: on creators' rights; includes text (draft) of "A Bill of Rights for Comic Creators".
- Rodi, Rob. "Blood & Thunder: Rights and Reason", The Comics Journal #171 (Sept. 1994), pp. 2, 6.
- Mescallado, Ray. "Fanboi Politik: Creator's Rights in the Mainstream", The Comics Journal #215 (Aug. 1999), pp. 119–120.