A Furious Bill Willingham Releases 'Fables' Into The Public Domain 3 3

[wardevil0]

On 9/19/2023 at 8:18 PM, jaybuck43 said:

Before this gets locked.  There is no question that Bill is credited as the creator of the book.  However, the IP rights would exist with whoever the rights holder is.  Thus, it would depend on his contract.  My contract for instance states that any IP I create while working for my employer is the rights of said employer, while I must receive credit as the creator/originator of that work.  So absent seeing the contract, no clue who's right here.  But as others have said... what company in their right mind would be willing to take Bill's word for it when you have Warner Brothers Discovery (a $28 billion company) ready to file suit.  

I'm sure it depends on how precisely DC/AOL Time Warner Discovery (lol) want to slice the pie.  I had always understood Fables to be "creator-owned," but you could argue Snow White, Big Bad Wolf, etc were public domain all along, the logo and branding belong to DC, and the artwork/character designs belong to Mark Buckingham.  Thus, the only thing Willingham could have given to public domain was the idea of fairy-tale characters living in the modern world maintaining their community in secret.  Possibly also Bigby and Snow's kids, as original additions to the mythos.  Basically, the only thing Willingham can't give away is the most valuable part of the franchise, which is the ability to say "part of the Fables universe."

[Lazyboy]

[jaybuck43]

On 9/20/2023 at 9:02 AM, Lazyboy said:

Yes, that's the 2002 indica.  But a 2010 copyright filing also mentions an assignment of rights from Willingham to DC, so again there is enough of a murkiness/question that if i was IHC at a big pocket company, I would be pumping the breaks before we started allowing the distribution or use of the Fables characters, just because I am not sure that this is REALLY free and clear.  

[VintageComics]

On 9/19/2023 at 8:08 PM, Buzzetta said:

IBTL

I may or may not have been pressured to post this by Jim Lee, DC, and Warner Discovery.

Mods notified. 

[Buzzetta]

On 9/22/2023 at 7:26 PM, VintageComics said:

Mods notified. 

I am more scared of Warner Discovery.  They have better lawyers. 

Edited September 23, 2023 by Buzzetta