Another year has ended, and it’s time to recommend some comic books. As I mentioned in previous years, I tend to primarily focus my recommendations on creator-owned titles, these will mostly be graphic novels/trade paperbacks, and they may not all have been released this year. As always, I’ve provided links where I can. Links to Amazon will be affiliate links. Anywhere else is not. Even so, if you’re intrigued by these books, try to buy them from your local comic shop or book store. You can find previous years’ recommendation by c ..read more

              Roy Thomas has been in the news recently because he is asserting that he is a co-creator of Wolverine. Zach Rabiroff has a great recap article on the situation at The Comics Journal that is worth reading, and it covers some of the nuances that I will not. I am going to discuss the concept of creation and ownership through the lens of copyright.             To briefly recap, Thomas was a Marvel editor, and according to most accounts, suggested to Len Wein that he create a ..read more

                  The announcement of a new collected edition of Miracleman being released prompted me to finally start reading the collected Marvelman books I bought a few years ago. I was inspired to buy them after reading Pádraig Ó Méalóid’s book Poisoned Chalice: The Extremely Long and Incredibly Complex Story of Marvelman (and Miracleman). It’s an interesting read, and you can find my previous review of the book here. Reading these stories makes me think of how fascinating it is that this character managed to exist in t ..read more

                  I recently came across an article discussing a copyright lawsuit involving the original script to Road House. You can read the article here. But, in short, the original writer filed for a copyright termination of transfer to reclaim ownership of the script, and the studio counterclaimed stating that the work was done as a work-made-for-hire and is therefore ineligible for copyright termination of transfer. The wrinkle in this story is that the company employing the writer was the writer’s own company. This is a ..read more

                  Something that I often ask the artists and writers I work with is if they have insurance. In particular, I ask if they have media liability insurance. Most don’t, but it is a type of insurance coverage more artists and writers should consider obtaining.                 In most publishing contracts, you are guaranteeing the publisher that your work will not infringe upon another’s intellectual property nor will it cause harm to a third par ..read more

                  Recently, the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries’ Entertainment & Sports Lawyer periodical published a new article of mine. The article is titled “Heroes for Hire No More: Rethinking the Presumption That Comic Books Qualify As A Work-Made-For-Hire Under the Copyright Act of 1976.” You can read the article in its entirety via the link, but I will provide a brief summary below.               ..read more

                  Following up on a post from two years ago detailing the the lawsuit filed by colorist William Crabtree against Robert Kirkman over Invincible , the case has now settled. The two sides reached a confidential settlement, and the case was dismissed.                 In November, the judge overseeing the case issued a declaratory judgment ruling that denied some of Crabtree’s claims and allowed some to proceed. In particular, th ..read more

                Recently, a few decisions were issued involving an unauthorized sequel to The Lord of the Rings (“LOTR”). In one, a court found that Amazon and the Tolkien Estate did not infringe upon the author’s book. In the second, the court found that the author’s book infringed upon the rights of the Tolkien Estate.                 Demetrious Polychron filed a lawsuit in April against Amazon, the Tolkien Estate and many others. In the filing, Polychron claimed that he wrote a ..read more

            It’s the end of another year, and it’s time to recommend some of the comic books I read this year. As I mentioned in previous years, I tend to primarily focus my recommendations on creator-owned titles, these will mostly be graphic novels/trade paperbacks, and they may not all have been released this year. As always, I’ve provided links where I can. Links to Amazon will be affiliate links. Anywhere else is not. Even so, if you’re intrigued by these books, try to buy them from your local comic shop or book store. You can find previous y ..read more

  This is the second post discussing Bill Willingham’s announcement that Fables is now in the public domain. You can find the first post here. Previously, I discussed the problems surrounding the actual act of dedicating a work to the public domain before its copyright term has expired. Today, I will discuss some of the other problems arising from Willingham’s announcement. The second problem we encounter when discussing Willingham’s statement is that you have to be the owner of the works in order to dedicate them to the public domain. Willingham claims that Fables is a creator-owned work ..read more