If you have any interest at all in creator rights in the comic book industry or even just an appreciation for how big business finds new ways to screw over the little guy then this diatribe by legendary comic book writer Gerry Conway is a must read!
Who created Caitlin Snow on #TheFlash? According to @DCComics, nobody.
To briefly summarize it Gerry outlines how, at one time, DC under the guidance of publisher Paul Levitz initiated a program called “creator equity participation” which allowed for creators to be compensated when their characters were used in other media. This was viewed a small victory in the long battle for creator rights that is as old as the industry.
In recent years since Paul Levitz has left DC and Diane Nelson has taken over as President of DC Entertainment, this program has been bastardized, first by defining some characters as “derivative” thus no longer deserving of remuneration and then by requiring that creators assume the responsibility of asking in advance for equity request contracts as DC will not pay retroactively if the papers are not filed. Gerry described this circle-jerk when he reached out for fan support with his institution of the Comics Equity Project.
Now DC has revealed new technique for double-crossing its creators. It’s called the reboot. Like the New 52? Enjoying Convergence? Isn’t it interesting how the characters origins, costumes identities and relationships all subtly or sometimes dramatically change? DC will tell you they are just trying to update characters to reflect the interests of the current market but in reality they are actively blurring the line to guarantee that all iterations of a character can be considered “derivative.”
Caitlin Snow, Jason Todd (Robin), Power Girl, Superboy & Barry Allen
According to Conway some characters can now have nobody attributed to their creation and he sites Caitlin Snow, Jason Todd, Power Girl, Superboy and Barry Allen as just a few examples!
I always expected that reboots like the New 52 were devised as an opportunity to distance the aging iconic characters from impending copyright revision suits or exposure to public domain but never did I imagine that reboots were so nefarious that they would so aggressively undermine all of the accomplishments of the creators rights movement simply to avoid paying miniscule royalties on generally peripheral characters.
How bad is it when a company like Time Warner, who’s first quarter revenue this year was just reported as $7.1 billion, has to nickel-and-dime lowly comic creators with unkept promises? CEO, Jeff Bewkes clears a modest $32 million annually so I guess there is just not enough cash to trickle down to the bottom-feeding comic book pros.
I wonder if Diane Nelson is wearing any Prada these days?
And what about DC Co-Publisher Jim Lee? Didn’t he co-found Image, one of the most successful independent comics publishing houses, that has long been the bastion creator rights? I guess he has gone to the Dark Cide.
This type of reaming is not unique to the comic book industry. It is just another example of big businesses taking advantage of those that built them. It is a crass manipulation of an economic system that deprives workers of decent salaries, benefits, 401K plans, pensions, and just a plain-old, reasonable standard of living while continually filling the growing coffers of the already wealthy.
We like to think that our favorite superheroes instill in us a sense of justice and morality but it is getting much harder to look at that “S” on Superman’s chest and see “a symbol of hope” when it is clear that it is really a Kryptonian dollar sign for big bucks intended for a limited few.
Gerry Giovinco
Tags: Barry Allen, Caitlin Snow, Comics Equity Project, Convergence, Copyright Revision, Creator equity participation, Creator Rights, DC Comics, DC Entertainment, Diane Nelson, Gerry Conway, Image Comics, Jason Todd, Jeff Bewkes, Jim Lee, Kryptonian, New 52, Paul Levitz, Power Girl, Prada, public domain, Royalties, Superboy, Superman, Time Warner
Well, I DON’T like Puke52, or Convergence, and I wasn’t going to go waste my money watching the new movies anyway. I hope that Time/Warner/Gargantua/Whoever They Eat Next gets over their greed, I suppose… Maybe they’ve just forgotten that there ARE other companies out there.
DC=Dead Comics. They have lost their fans thanx to the Pu52 fiasco which is selling way less than pre-reboot now! They do not care about creators, readers or even their own characters!
[…] last week in my blog post The DC Comics Double-Cross I wrote about Gerry Conway’s post regarding DC’s policy about “derivative” […]