Creator ownership
Encyclopedia
Creator ownership is an arrangement in which the creator or creators of a work of fiction retain full ownership of the material, regardless of whether it is self-published
or by a corporate publisher. In some fields of publishing
, such as fiction writing
, creator ownership is a standard arrangement. In other fields — such as comic book
s, recorded music, or motion pictures — creator ownership has traditionally been uncommon, with either work for hire
or publisher purchase of the material being standard practice.
comics have been traditionally either sold to their publishers before publication, or produced as work for hire. Consequently, creator's rights have long been a source of conflict, going back to the industry's late 1930s origins. Creator-owned titles began to appear during the late-1960s underground comix
movement, and in the superhero
genre with the mid-1970s creation of the short-lived company Atlas/Seaboard Comics
.
was politically active in the industry, and attempted to unionize
its creative community. In 1978
, Adams helped form the Comics Creators Guild, which over three dozen prominent comic-book writers and artists joined, including Cary Bates
, Howard Chaykin
, Chris Claremont
, Steve Ditko
, Michael Golden, Archie Goodwin
, Paul Levitz
, Bob McLeod, Frank Miller
, Carl Potts
, Marshall Rogers
, Jim Shooter
, Walt Simonson
, Jim Starlin
, Len Wein
, and Marv Wolfman
.
In addition, Adams notably and vocally helped lead the lobbying efforts that resulted in Superman
creators Jerry Siegel
and Joe Shuster
receiving decades-overdue credit and some financial remuneration from Superman publisher DC 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.
In contrast, 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. The success of Epic Illustrated led to the 1982 formation of the long-running imprint Epic Comics
, which specialized in creator-owned titles.
Around this same period, however, industry legend Jack Kirby
, co-creator of many of Marvel's most popular characters, came into dispute with the company over the disappearance of original pages of artwork from some of his most famous and popular titles. (Kirby had quit working for Marvel in 1979, angry over what he perceived as the company's mistreatment of him.) Best-selling creators like Alan Moore
, Frank Miller
, and many other stars became vocal advocates for Kirby. Neal Adams also petitioned to have his Marvel originals returned, and the pair won their battle in 1987, when Marvel returned original artwork to him and Kirby, among others. This decision helped lead to the modern industry's standard practice of returning original artwork to the artist, who can earn additional income from art sales to collectors.
distribution system for comics to self-publish their work. Dave Sim
's Cerebus and Wendy and Richard Pini
's ElfQuest
were prominent examples of this approach. Self-publishers Kevin Eastman
and Peter Laird
created and self-published the wildly popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
beginning in 1984.
and Eclipse Comics
were strong promoters of creator-owned superhero properties; their enticement of popular creators (such as Kirby) 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.
In the mid-to-late 1980s, creator ownership became a cause célèbre
among many comics creators, including those working in the dominant genre of superhero
es. Creators' repeated clashes with DC Comics
, First Comics
, 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.
became increasingly concerned at the lack of creator's rights in British comics. In 1985, he noted that he had stopped working for all British publishers except IPC
, publishers of 2000 AD, "purely for the reason that IPC so far have avoided lying to me, cheating me or generally treating me like shit." He joined other creators in decrying the wholesale relinquishing of all rights, and in 1986 stopped writing for 2000 AD as well. Moore's outspoken opinions and principles, particularly on the subject of creator's rights and ownership, would see him burn bridges with a number of other publishers over the course of his career.
a number of independent comic book artists and writers drafted the Creator's Bill of Rights
, a document designed to protect their rights as creators and aid against their exploitation by corporate work for hire practices. Issues covered by the Bill included giving creators proper credit for their characters and stories, profit-sharing, distribution, fair contracts, licensing, and return of original artwork. Through a series of meetings, a document was finalized at the "Northampton Summit," held in Northampton, Massachusetts
, and signed by all in attendance. Scott McCloud
was the principal author of the Bill; other artists and writers participating in the Bill's creation included Dave Sim
, Steve Bissette, Larry Marder
, Rick Veitch
, Peter Laird
, and Kevin Eastman
.
imprint, which featured creator-owned alternative
titles. Piranha published a modest collection of original series and graphic novels until going defunct in 1994.
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. Tundra went bankrupt in 1993.
In 1992 a number of popular Marvel artists formed their own company, Image Comics
, which would serve as a prominent example of creator-owned comics publishing. Propelled by star power and upset that they did not own the popular characters they created for Marvel, several illustrators, including the X-Men
’s Jim Lee
, The New Mutants/X-Force
’s Rob Liefeld
, and Spider-Man
’s Todd McFarlane
formed Image, an umbrella label under which several autonomous, creator-owned companies existed. Image properties, such as WildC.A.T.s
, Gen¹³
, Witchblade
and especially McFarlane’s Spawn
provided brisk competition for long-standing superheroes. Many popular creators followed Image's lead and attempted to use their star power to launch their own series; ones for which they would have licensing rights and editorial control. Chris Claremont
, famous for his long run as the writer of Uncanny X-Men
, created Sovereign Seven
for DC
; Joe Madureira, also made popular by Uncanny X-Men, launched Battle Chasers
for WildStorm Productions; and Kurt Busiek
, Alex Ross
, and Brent Anderson
created Astro City
for Image.
DC's Vertigo imprint, launched in 1993, was the company's first successful attempt to routinely publish creator-owned series (right from its launch with Peter Milligan
and Duncan Fegredo
's Enigma). From the start, Vertigo founding editor Karen Berger
was committed to creator-owned projects, working on several "[her]self with new writers and artists" as well as established names, with the express intention of "trying to bring new people into the industry, as well as use some of the best creators in comics." In addition to creator-owned series set in their own continuity
, such as Enigma and Fallen Angel
, DC published several creator-owned series, such as Sovereign Seven and Xero
, that were set within the DC Universe
.
In 1994, Dark Horse Comics founded the Legend imprint in part to provide star creators like Frank Miller and John Byrne an avenue for creator-owned projects.
has frequently pointed out that his creator-owned works have sold a small fraction of the series he writes featuring popular publisher-owned characters as work-for-hire. In contrast, artist Marc Silvestri
has asserted that a creator can make more money compared to working with company-owned characters, arguing "If money is in the equation, and everybody likes that, the money doesn't come from the number of the sales, it comes from the amount you get from those sales."
Self-publishing
Self-publishing is the publication of any book or other media by the author of the work, without the involvement of an established third-party publisher. The author is responsible and in control of entire process including design , formats, price, distribution, marketing & PR...
or by a corporate publisher. In some fields of publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
, such as fiction writing
Fiction writing
Fiction writing is any kind of writing that is not factual. Fictional writing most often takes the form of a story meant to convey an author's point of view or simply to entertain...
, creator ownership is a standard arrangement. In other fields — such as comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s, recorded music, or motion pictures — creator ownership has traditionally been uncommon, with either work for hire
Work for hire
A work made for hire is an exception to the general rule that the person who actually creates a work is the legally recognized author of that work...
or publisher purchase of the material being standard practice.
Origins
Most successful AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comics have been traditionally either sold to their publishers before publication, or produced as work for hire. Consequently, creator's rights have long been a source of conflict, going back to the industry's late 1930s origins. Creator-owned titles began to appear during the late-1960s underground comix
Underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence...
movement, and in the superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
genre with the mid-1970s creation of the short-lived company Atlas/Seaboard Comics
Atlas/Seaboard Comics
Atlas/Seaboard is the term comic-book historians and collectors use to refer to the 1970s line of comics published as Atlas Comics by the American company Seaboard Periodicals, to differentiate from the 1950s' Atlas Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics...
.
Neal Adams and the Comics Creators Guild
During the 1970s, superstar artist Neal AdamsNeal Adams
Neal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...
was politically active in the industry, and attempted to unionize
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
its creative community. In 1978
1978 in comics
This is a list of comics-related events in 1978.- Year overall :* DC suffers the DC Implosion, the abrupt cancellation of more than two dozen ongoing and planned titles, with the vast majority of the books leaving uncompleted storylines .* Archie Goodwin resigns as Marvel Comics editor-in-chief,...
, Adams helped form the Comics Creators Guild, which over three dozen prominent comic-book writers and artists joined, including Cary Bates
Cary Bates
Cary Bates is an American comic book, animation television and film writer.-Biography:Bates began submitting ideas for comic book covers to DC Comics at the age of 13, and a number of them were bought and published, the first as the cover to Superman #167...
, Howard Chaykin
Howard Chaykin
Howard Victor Chaykin is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material...
, Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...
, Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
, Michael Golden, Archie Goodwin
Archie Goodwin (comics)
Archie Goodwin was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. He worked on a number of comic strips in addition to comic books, and is best known for his Warren and Marvel Comics work...
, Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he has worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles...
, Bob McLeod, Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
, Carl Potts
Carl Potts
Carl Potts is an American comic-book writer, artist, and editor best known for creating the series Alien Legion for the Marvel Comics imprint Epic Comics.-Early life:...
, Marshall Rogers
Marshall Rogers
Marshall Rogers was an American comic-book artist best known for his work at Marvel and DC Comics in the 1970s, particularly as one of the illustrators of Batman and Silver Surfer...
, Jim Shooter
Jim Shooter
James Shooter is an American writer, occasional fill-in artist, editor, and publisher for various comic books. Although he started professionally in the medium at the extraordinarily young age of 14, he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comics' ninth...
, Walt Simonson
Walt Simonson
Walter "Walt" Simonson is an American comic book writer and artist. After studying geology at Amherst College, he transferred to the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 1972. His thesis project there was The Star Slammers, which was published as a black and white promotional comic book...
, Jim Starlin
Jim Starlin
James P. "Jim" Starlin is an American comic book writer and artist. With a career dating back to the early 1970s, he is best known for "cosmic" tales and space opera; for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock; and for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters...
, Len Wein
Len Wein
Len Wein is an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men...
, and Marv Wolfman
Marv Wolfman
Marvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.-1960s:...
.
In addition, Adams notably and vocally helped lead the lobbying efforts that resulted in Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
creators Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
and Joe Shuster
Joe Shuster
Joseph "Joe" Shuster was a Canadian-born American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1...
receiving decades-overdue credit and some financial remuneration from Superman publisher DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
.
Marvel's mixed legacy
Marvel ComicsMarvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
had a mixed history of responding to the issue of creator's rights. In 1978, Marvel and Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck is a comic book character in the Marvel Comics universe created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik. The character first appeared in Adventure into Fear #19 and several subsequent series have chronicled the misadventures of the ill-tempered, anthropomorphic, "funny...
writer Steve Gerber
Steve Gerber
Stephen Ross "Steve" Gerber was an American comic book writer best known as co-creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck....
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.
In contrast, in 1980
1980 in comics
-Year overall:* Big Rapids Distribution, a major Midwestern comics distributor, goes under, and two former employees , form Capital City Distribution, headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin....
Marvel created the mature readers anthology Epic Illustrated
Epic Illustrated
Epic Illustrated was a comics anthology in magazine format published in the United States by Marvel Comics. The series lasted for 34 issues, from Spring 1980 to February 1986....
, offering its writers and artists ownership rights and royalties in place of the industry-standard work for hire contracts. The success of Epic Illustrated led to the 1982 formation of the long-running imprint Epic Comics
Epic Comics
Epic Comics was a creator-owned imprint of Marvel Comics started in 1982, lasting through the mid-1990s, and being briefly revived on a small scale in the mid-2000s.- Origins :...
, which specialized in creator-owned titles.
Around this same period, however, industry legend Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, co-creator of many of Marvel's most popular characters, came into dispute with the company over the disappearance of original pages of artwork from some of his most famous and popular titles. (Kirby had quit working for Marvel in 1979, angry over what he perceived as the company's mistreatment of him.) Best-selling creators like Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
, Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
, and many other stars became vocal advocates for Kirby. Neal Adams also petitioned to have his Marvel originals returned, and the pair won their battle in 1987, when Marvel returned original artwork to him and Kirby, among others. This decision helped lead to the modern industry's standard practice of returning original artwork to the artist, who can earn additional income from art sales to collectors.
Self-publishing
The late 1970s saw some creators take advantage of the then-new direct marketDirect market
The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for North American comic books. It consists of one dominant distributor and the majority of comics specialty stores, as well as other retailers of comic books and related merchandise...
distribution system for comics to self-publish their work. Dave Sim
Dave Sim
David Victor Sim is an award-winning Canadian comic book writer and artist.A pioneer of self-published comics and creators' rights, Sim is best known as the creator of Cerebus the Aardvark, a comic book published from 1977 to 2004, which chronicles its main character in a 6,000-page self-contained...
's Cerebus and Wendy and Richard Pini
Wendy and Richard Pini
Wendy Pini née Fletcher, and Richard Pini are the husband-and-wife team responsible for creating the well-known Elfquest series of comics, graphic novels and prose works...
's ElfQuest
Elfquest
Elfquest is a cult hit comic book property created by Wendy and Richard Pini in 1978. It is a fantasy story about a community of elves and other fictional species who struggle to survive and coexist on a primitive Earth-like planet with two moons. Several published volumes of prose fiction also...
were prominent examples of this approach. Self-publishers Kevin Eastman
Kevin Eastman
Kevin Brooks Eastman is an American comic book artist and writer, best known as the creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Eastman is also the current owner, editor and publisher of the magazine Heavy Metal.-Early life:Eastman was born on May 30, 1962 in Springvale, Maine...
and Peter Laird
Peter Laird
Peter Alan Laird is an American comic book writer and artist. He is best known for co-creating Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with writer and artist Kevin Eastman.-Early life and career:...
created and self-published the wildly popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...
beginning in 1984.
Rise of the independents
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 ComicsPacific Comics
Pacific Comics was an independent comic book publisher that flourished from 1981-1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began out of a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes...
and Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...
were strong promoters of creator-owned superhero properties; their enticement of popular creators (such as Kirby) 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
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
entered the field during this period as well. Creator-owned properties allowed series to continue with multiple publishers as circumstances required; Usagi Yojimbo
Usagi Yojimbo
is a comic book series created by Stan Sakai in 1987. In 2011 IGN ranked Miyamoto Usagi 92nd in the top 100 comic books heroes.-Concept:Set primarily at the beginning of Edo period of Japan , with anthropomorphic animals replacing humans, the series features a rabbit ronin, Miyamoto Usagi, whom...
for instance has been published by four succeeding publishing houses.
In the mid-to-late 1980s, creator ownership became a cause célèbre
Cause célèbre
A is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning and heated public debate. The term is particularly used in connection with celebrated legal cases. It is a French phrase in common English use...
among many comics creators, including those working in the dominant genre of superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es. Creators' repeated clashes with DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, First Comics
First Comics
First Comics was an American comic-book publisher that was active from 1983–1991, known for titles like American Flagg!, Grimjack, Nexus, Badger, Dreadstar, and Jon Sable...
, 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.
British comics and Alan Moore
Writer Alan MooreAlan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
became increasingly concerned at the lack of creator's rights in British comics. In 1985, he noted that he had stopped working for all British publishers except IPC
IPC Media
IPC Media , a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Inc., is a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year.- Origins :...
, publishers of 2000 AD, "purely for the reason that IPC so far have avoided lying to me, cheating me or generally treating me like shit." He joined other creators in decrying the wholesale relinquishing of all rights, and in 1986 stopped writing for 2000 AD as well. Moore's outspoken opinions and principles, particularly on the subject of creator's rights and ownership, would see him burn bridges with a number of other publishers over the course of his career.
Creator's Bill of Rights
In November 19881988 in comics
-Events and publications:* Jack Binder, creator of the original Daredevil, dies at c. age 86.* Tarpé Mills, creator Miss Fury, dies at c. age 73....
a number of independent comic book artists and writers drafted the Creator's Bill of Rights
Creator's Bill of Rights
The Creator's Bill of Rights was a document drafted in November 1988 by a number of independent comic book artists and writers, designed to protect their rights as creators and aid against their exploitation by corporate work for hire practices...
, a document designed to protect their rights as creators and aid against their exploitation by corporate work for hire practices. Issues covered by the Bill included giving creators proper credit for their characters and stories, profit-sharing, distribution, fair contracts, licensing, and return of original artwork. Through a series of meetings, a document was finalized at the "Northampton Summit," held in Northampton, Massachusetts
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
, and signed by all in attendance. Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud is an American cartoonist and theorist on comics as a distinct literary and artistic medium...
was the principal author of the Bill; other artists and writers participating in the Bill's creation included Dave Sim
Dave Sim
David Victor Sim is an award-winning Canadian comic book writer and artist.A pioneer of self-published comics and creators' rights, Sim is best known as the creator of Cerebus the Aardvark, a comic book published from 1977 to 2004, which chronicles its main character in a 6,000-page self-contained...
, Steve Bissette, Larry Marder
Larry Marder
Larry Marder is an American cartoonist and writer, best known as the creator of comic book Tales of the Beanworld, which began as an "essentially self-published title" in 1984.-Early life:...
, Rick Veitch
Rick Veitch
Richard "Rick" Veitch is an American comic book artist and writer who has worked in mainstream, underground, and alternative comics.-Early career:...
, Peter Laird
Peter Laird
Peter Alan Laird is an American comic book writer and artist. He is best known for co-creating Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with writer and artist Kevin Eastman.-Early life and career:...
, and Kevin Eastman
Kevin Eastman
Kevin Brooks Eastman is an American comic book artist and writer, best known as the creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Eastman is also the current owner, editor and publisher of the magazine Heavy Metal.-Early life:Eastman was born on May 30, 1962 in Springvale, Maine...
.
Industry changes
In 1989, DC created the Piranha PressPiranha Press
Piranha Press, an imprint of DC Comics from 1989 to 1994, was a response by DC to the growing interest in alternative comics. The imprint was edited by Mark Nevelow, who instead of developing comics with the established names in the alternative comics field, chose to introduce several unknown...
imprint, which featured creator-owned alternative
Alternative comics
Alternative comics defines a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to "mainstream" superhero comics which in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...
titles. Piranha published a modest collection of original series and graphic novels until going defunct in 1994.
In 1990, Creator's Bill of Rights signatory Kevin Eastman founded the creator-friendly Tundra Publishing
Tundra Publishing
Tundra Publishing was a Northampton, Massachusetts-based comic book publisher founded by Kevin Eastman in 1990.-Overview:Tundra was meant to provide a venue for high-quality work by talented cartoonists and illustrators. Its publications were noted in the trade for their high production values,...
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. Tundra went bankrupt in 1993.
In 1992 a number of popular Marvel artists formed their own company, Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
, which would serve as a prominent example of creator-owned comics publishing. Propelled by star power and upset that they did not own the popular characters they created for Marvel, several illustrators, including the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
’s Jim Lee
Jim Lee
Jim Lee is a Korean-American comic book artist, writer, editor and publisher. He first broke into the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel Comics, illustrating titles such as Alpha Flight and Punisher War Journal, before gaining a great deal of popularity on The Uncanny X-Men...
, The New Mutants/X-Force
X-Force
X-Force is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero team, one of several spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team was formed in New Mutants, vol. 1 #100 and soon afterwards was featured in its own series.The group was a new incarnation of the 1980s...
’s Rob Liefeld
Rob Liefeld
Rob Liefeld is an American comic book writer, illustrator, and publisher. A prominent artist in the 1990s, he has since become a controversial figure in the medium....
, and Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
’s Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane is a Canadian cartoonist, writer, toy designer and entrepreneur, best known for his work in comic books, such as the fantasy series Spawn....
formed Image, an umbrella label under which several autonomous, creator-owned companies existed. Image properties, such as WildC.A.T.s
Wildcats (comics)
Wildcats, sometimes rendered WildCats or WildC.A.T.s, is a fictional superhero team created by the American comic book artist Jim Lee and writer Brandon Choi.-Publication history:...
, Gen¹³
Gen¹³
Gen¹³ is a fictional superhero team and comic book series originally written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell. It was originally published by Image Comics under the banner Wildstorm, which went on to become an imprint for DC Comics, who continued publishing the Gen¹³...
, Witchblade
Witchblade
Witchblade is an American comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, from 1995 until present. The series was created by Top Cow editors Marc Silvestri and David Wohl, writers Brian Haberlin and Christina Z, and artist Michael Turner.The series follows Sara...
and especially McFarlane’s Spawn
Spawn (comics)
Spawn is a fictional comic book superhero who appears in a monthly comic book of the same name published by Image Comics. Created by writer/artist Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1...
provided brisk competition for long-standing superheroes. Many popular creators followed Image's lead and attempted to use their star power to launch their own series; ones for which they would have licensing rights and editorial control. Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...
, famous for his long run as the writer of Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes...
, created Sovereign Seven
Sovereign Seven
Sovereign Seven is a creator-owned American comic book series, created by Chris Claremont and Dwayne Turner, and published by DC Comics.-Publication history:...
for DC
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
; Joe Madureira, also made popular by Uncanny X-Men, launched Battle Chasers
Battle Chasers
Battle Chasers is an American fantasy comic book series by Joe Madureira, launched in April 1998. It was one of the most popular American comics series in the late 1990s, but suffered from extreme scheduling problems, with an average of about six months between issues, including a delay of 16...
for WildStorm Productions; and Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Early life:...
, Alex Ross
Alex Ross
Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...
, and Brent Anderson
Brent Anderson
Brent Anderson is an American comic book artist known for his work on X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills and the comic book series Astro City.- Early life :...
created Astro City
Astro City
Kurt Busiek's Astro City is a comic book series centered on a fictional American city of that name. Written by Kurt Busiek, the series is co-created and illustrated by Brent Anderson with character designs and painted covers by Alex Ross...
for Image.
DC's Vertigo imprint, launched in 1993, was the company's first successful attempt to routinely publish creator-owned series (right from its launch with Peter Milligan
Peter Milligan
Peter Milligan born in London, a British writer, best known for his comic book, film and television work.-Early career:Milligan started his comic career with short stories for 2000 AD in the early 1980s. By 1986, Milligan had his first ongoing strip in 2000AD called Bad Company, with artists Brett...
and Duncan Fegredo
Duncan Fegredo
Duncan Fegredo is a British comic book artist born in Leicester in 1964.-Career:Fegredo first managed to get into comics after showing his portfolio around UKCAC in 1987 and meeting Dave Thorpe. Together they worked on a strip for a short lived British magazine called Heartbreak Hotel...
's Enigma). From the start, Vertigo founding editor Karen Berger
Karen Berger
Karen Berger is an American comic book editor. She is best known as the Executive Editor of DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.-Biography:...
was committed to creator-owned projects, working on several "[her]self with new writers and artists" as well as established names, with the express intention of "trying to bring new people into the industry, as well as use some of the best creators in comics." In addition to creator-owned series set in their own continuity
Continuity (fiction)
In fiction, continuity is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time...
, such as Enigma and Fallen Angel
Fallen Angel (comics)
Fallen Angel is an American fictional comic book heroine created and owned by writer Peter David and artist David Lopez, who appears in her self-titled monthly series. It was published by DC Comics from July 2003 until it was canceled with issue #20 in May 2005 because of low sales. It resumed...
, DC published several creator-owned series, such as Sovereign Seven and Xero
Xero (comics)
Xero is a fictional superhero and antihero published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Xero #1, , and was created by Christopher Priest and ChrisCross.-Publication history:...
, that were set within the DC Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
.
In 1994, Dark Horse Comics founded the Legend imprint in part to provide star creators like Frank Miller and John Byrne an avenue for creator-owned projects.
Pros and cons of creator ownership
The financial advantages and disadvantages of creator ownership vary. Popular writer Peter DavidPeter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
has frequently pointed out that his creator-owned works have sold a small fraction of the series he writes featuring popular publisher-owned characters as work-for-hire. In contrast, artist Marc Silvestri
Marc Silvestri
Marc Silvestri is an American comic book artist, creator and publisher. He currently acts as the CEO for Top Cow Productions.-Early life:Marc Silvestri was born in Palm Beach, Florida.-Career:...
has asserted that a creator can make more money compared to working with company-owned characters, arguing "If money is in the equation, and everybody likes that, the money doesn't come from the number of the sales, it comes from the amount you get from those sales."
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 ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
:- 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," Mark AskwithMark AskwithMark Askwith is a Canadian producer, writer, interviewer , and a familiar name in the fields of science fiction and comics.-Early life:...
, Steve Bissette, Steve Saffel, and Bill SienkiewiczBill SienkiewiczBoleslav Felix Robert "Bill" Sienkiewicz [pronounced sin-KEV-itch] is an Eisner Award-winning American artist and writer best known for his comic book work, primarily for Marvel Comics' The New Mutants and Elektra: Assassin...
.
- "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.