neutron@hpfcla.UUCP (01/01/86)
From the letter page of THOR 366, April 1986, in answer to a letter: Marvel has done a great deal to promote creators' rights in the comic book profession, and we believe that the entire field has benefitted from such developments. I had the impression that Marvel was dragged kicking and screaming into the world of creators' rights. Anybody have any facts? -Jack Applin hplabs!hpfcdc!jack (Note: due to braindamaged HP notes software/administration, the return address in the headers may be incorrect)
boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN) (01/10/86)
> From: hpfcla!neutron (Jack Applin) > I had the impression that Marvel was dragged kicking and screaming into > the world of creators' rights. Anybody have any facts? The facts are that Marvel doesn't give a shit in the springtime about creators' rights. They were the last of the comics publishers to make arrangements to return art to the artists, and that only because of pressure from the Academy of Comic Book Artists. Secondly, they came up with a real winner of a contract for their creators, which specifies that work done for the company is "work for hire". Any creator that signs this contract waives all possible of suing for copyright claims for characters that they create (Marvel didn't want another Steve Gerber/ Howard the Duck debacle) in the process of working on Marvel comics. Partly, this was in response to the new copyright laws which went into effect in the 70's. Thirdly, they are requiring artists who've done work prior to the new copyright laws to sign a waiver stating that work done prior to the new laws was "work for hire" before returning artwork to said artists. The reason for this last is rather complex. You see, in 3 years, the copyrights for Marvel's first superheroes, the Fantastic Four, comes up for renewal. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, as co-creators of the characters, can file for co-ownership (with Marvel) of the characters. If Kirby signs the waiver (which he refuses to do), he waives all claim to the characters. Because Kirby refuses to sign the waiver, Marvel is not returning his 60's artwork to him, even though he is entitled to it (note: as far as I know, Stan Lee is not interested in filing for co-ownership; also, as far as I know, Steve Ditko has sign the waiver, which means he cannot file a claim for co-ownership of Spider-Man, when *it* comes up for renewal). Creators' rights? Marvel doesn't know the meaning of the term. Their claim in the THOR letter column is a bald-faced lie. The facts are that Frank Miller has walked out on Marvel in support of Jack Kirby, and rumors are that others will follow. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...} !decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.DEC.COM