This was the same tireless champion of Platinum two years ago, right after he won their contest. The contest which required he sign away rights in order to be a winner. Not unlike the TP Pilots/Rising Star of Manga deal.
While I don't hear TP creators complaining of non-payments, I do remember Amy Kim Ganter (at the Pseudome' boards) not being too pleased that TP exercised is right to present her work in other media. ("Why didn't anyone ask the creators for feedback?")
In that case, it was TP's wretched manga pods, which were audio book presentations of the work of OEL authors. (I did try to go to the Mangapods page and it no longer exists.)
(Incidentally, at the TP blogs the most recent post relating to mangapods was over 200 days old, and a post asking if mangapods still existed was about a year old.)
I was then, and still am, astonished that anyone would sign a shared copyright contract (Ganter certainly didn't seem to need the leg up). Amazed that after seeing how quickly, and without creator input or consent, TP made derivative works, that anyone would defend TP's business practices. Or that they would cling to the idea that, in the end, TP would come through for them.
But you have to when you've made the contractural investment.
In 2000, Image had a block of booths. Let's leave it at "I wasn't too pleased with many things" because all the problem people at Image have since moved on, and today I wouldn't have trouble leaving my table and punching someone in the kidney. I was frustrated and angry. I was upset that Image, which had seen a turnaround in the community opinion of their "indy" books because of the work of myself and others, was being so...dickish.
I called Kurt Busiek. And complained. I might even have cried. "But I worked so hard! I said lots of nice things! I defended the indy line and told people there were lots of different Image books!"
Kurt said, "You can't expect a company to look out for you."
Luckily, I was not obligated to stay with Image, and Image did not own any part of my work. I left unhappy, but on relatively good terms in 2002.
I'd go back to Image with a GN in a second.
I can't say it enough: companies look out for themselves. It's their job. They don't have to be treacherous reamers and grab rights. You're, and I'll say it, taking foolish risks if you sign such a contract.
Companies look out for themselves.
SO BE YOUR OWN DAMN COMPANY.
In related news: Anime News Network announces that TP has rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic and laid off 39 people. When companies looks for ways to increase their catalog and pay creators as little as possible, there's trouble.
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divalea- Lea Hernandez-DivaLea
- Atelier DivaLea
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God, if that sentiment doesn't wrap up my last four months (particularly today) nothing does.
Hot Topic is selling a product with my logo on it that I didn't create (despite the fact that I am also a vendor with them) and they told me they wouldn't pull it until I took the other vendor (who sold it to them) to court.
I just got off the phone with the designers lawyer and he pretty much told me "We're not saying it wasn't stolen, but we are going to claim we lost money on it so that you aren't entitled to anything; since profit is all common law copyright is entitled to. PS: You'll have to take us to court to get or prove any of the above, but going to court is going to cost you more then you'll get in the end. Want [some pocket change] instead?"
Company's do only look out for themselves; and it's fucking awful. When will people do he decent thing?
In a case like that and yours, I'm starting to think that vigilante justice is an option. Lawsuits are fine and good, but so is such a deserved beating with big sticks that the recipient needs two years of intense and incredibly painful therapy to regain color vision and bowel control.
I'm going through something like this right now with Siliconventions in San Jose. They owe me money for buttons I did for them in September; but their Board of Directors has changed, and they guy in charge on the finances (who is still on the Board) isn't replying to anyone about any of their owed debt or even collections for money they are owed. Seems like the guy just doesn't care about it anymore.
In a case like that and yours, I'm starting to think that vigilante justice is an option. Lawsuits are fine and good, but so is such a deserved beating with big sticks that the recipient needs two years of intense and incredibly painful therapy to regain color vision and bowel control.
I'm all for it, dude. I just can't understand how people can willingly - knowingly - screw over other people. It just boggles my mind.
I'd check your link, but it got borked.
Pretty shitty.
Theorectically, and I can't find an instance where this was tested (well, now I can, both poisonrational and sclerotic_rings have had problems with non-payment due to passing around of material and rights), a company that owns part of the copyright can sell their part.
For instance, TP might choose to sell the company and assets to another publisher. Their part of a copyright on a property would certainly be considered an asset.
If this happened, creators better have clauses for rights reversion in the case of a sale of the company to another entity.
If they don't, the new publisher will likely have all the rights TP did. They can choose to exploit, they can choose to shelve, they can sell those rights to yet another company.
They can choose to interpret the contract terms to be even less favorable to creators.
Neil Gaiman fought Todd McFarlane for a ridiculously long time over the rights to Miracleman. McFarlane had no rights, and even then, it took time in court to sort it out.
(I might also point out that he and I worked at the same scummy company, Eclipse. Even with all rights going to creators, Eclipse were still miserable and difficult to work with, one of the issues being criminally late payments.)
Imagine a case where the rights are not so clear cut, and there is no reversion clause. Imagine a creator who's been paid so handsomely (read poorly) that they cannot, unlike Neil Gaiman, afford an excellent lawyer. (Ken Levin is famous for steamrollering counterfeit Rolex watches.)
Put this all together: shared copyright, poor creators,unfavorable contracts, no rights reversion, and sale to an entity even less interested in creator's rights, and you have a creator's worst nightmare. It could easily be a test of creator's rights on the order of Moore and DC and the rights to Watchmen, or Kirby having to mount a campaign to embarass the jesusfuck out of Marvel to get his art returned.
Or, as pointed out, Stan Lee one-half of the team that created Spider-Man, having to sue for a share of money from the movies. (That is a perfect example of what can happen with work made for hire. And, AGAIN, Stan Lee can afford good lawyers.)
In this case, it might be difficult to get the supportive opinion of the greater comics community because of the obnoxious and dismissive behavior of some of the creators. That, and the fact that the contracts were patently unfavorable to the creators, the creators acknowledged this, and maintained that it was a fair trade for a leg up.
My order from General Products still hasn't arrived. Who should I call? ;-)
Um, me.
Not directly related to that, Shaenon always likes to point this out, when the topic of "at least I didn't give them my best work" comes up: Do you think that when Eastman and Laird were putting together their Ronin/Daredevil parody comic 25 years ago, they realized that they were creating a multi-billion dollar property with much, much greater staying power than anyone ever could have realized? Maybe your next TokyoPop comic isn't going to become as successful as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but who's to say it couldn't be?
The Ninja Turtle guys can buy and sell just about anyone in the comics industry ten times over today. The creator of Men In Black, who signed a contract with...well, the same basic people who run Platinum Studios now...let's just say that he doesn't quite have that same pile of cash lying around for publishing Heavy Metal or doling out Xeric Grants.
My response to that is "Then you're aware you're not getting the best contract."
Point made of WIN regrading TMNT and MIB.
ba-DUM-sh!
I bet the bugger gave himself a raise....