Originally posted by Computo:
Yeah, sure. I'll scan in the finished product and post it as an attachment.
A (very haphazard) draft is located here. Comments on it are very welcome and will be acknowledged in the article.
Dave I just finished reading the draft and found it very informative and engrossing. There have been a lot of recent legal proceedings going on in comics that I was unaware of (not that I normally pay attention to such things).
A couple of comments/questions:
1. Joe Simon -- I was unaware that he could challenge Marvel's copyright ownership of Captain America many decades after the fact. I also thought that Marvel/Timely had always used "Work for Hire" contracts and that, even though Simon was a freelancer, his work for the company was still "Work for Hire." I'm unclear on the distinction between freelance and "WFH."
2. Miracleman -- Did DC ever try to sue the various creators/owners of this character, who was derivative of Captain Marvel, who was (they said) in infringement of Superman? If not, I wonder why.
I've always been puzzled by the Superman/Captain Marvel suit to begin with. While there are certain surface similarities between the characters (both have capes, both can fly, etc.), they are also very different. Superman cannot turn into a boy; Captain Marvel is not from an alien planet, etc. To say that Cap is a ripoff of Superman is, to me, the same as saying all super-heroes are a rip-off of Superman.
3. Fighting American -- I'm totally surprised that Liefeld could get away with his derivative work of Captain America, Agent: America, by "marrying" it to an existing character. It was an ingenious ploy on his part (or on the part of his lawyers, no doubt). If Fawcett Comics had thought of this, they could have bought the rights to the Lone Ranger, for example, had Captain Marvel wear a mask and adopt an Indian sidekick, and gotten away with it.
4. Todd McFarlane -- I don't wish to defend him, but, in some ways I do feel sorry for him. He probably thought the name "Tony Twist" sounded cool and adopted it for his villain without thinking about how it might affect the hockey player. How many of us who aspire to doing comics for a living would have done the same thing? Inspiration has to come from somewhere and "Tony Twist" is wonderful name. (Though I can understand Mr. Twist's point of view, as well.)
Word to the wise: If you're going to publish a nationally distributed comic book, consult a copyright lawyer first.
Thanks for sharing this article with us, Dave. I'm looking forward to reading the final draft.