Well, now *this* is interesting. Mere hours after I express concern that Todd would glide past another one, a Wisconsin all-female jury stuck their collective foot out and tripped him up. Details can be found on icv2.com, but the bottom line is that the jury found in Neil Gaiman’s favor on all nine counts. Among other things, they affirmed Neil’s copyright interest in the characters he created (and you’d think that creator-loving Todd wouldn’t need a group of women in Wisconsin to tell him that, wouldn’t you), that Todd broke assorted contracts, and that Image had no right to use Gaiman’s name and bio without his permission in the Angela trade reprint (Hey! Instant collector’s item!)
The most amusing bit was McFarlane’s attorney stating that the verdict was a “nightmare” since it simultaneously held at Neil had copyright interest in Cagliostro and Spawn, but that there was also a contract in 1997 in which Neil had agreed to transfer the rights in exchange for Todd’s interest in Miracleman. Amazingly, the attorney didn’t seem to realize that both were true because his client had violated the 1997 agreement. It’s like saying, “How can you claim my client saw a stop sign AND broke a traffic law?” Obviously, because the client then ignored the stop sign.
Now…if Todd’s people have *any* brains at all, they settle. Fast. Before the penalty phase. Advantage to Neil? It puts an end to the inevitable appeals that McFarlane will try to run the case through. Advantage to Todd? It means he has some control over how much money he has to pay out. Juries can be weird. Remember how much money they demanded he pay Tony Twist, and that was in a case far more ludicrous than this one.
On the other hand, the creator of Spawn may count on being Todd McTeflon and figure he’ll win on appeal. At the very least, he can try to drag it out. And drag it out. And drag it out. Not every judge is the speed demon that Judge Shabaz is. But it seems to me (and I could be wrong) that if Image is found guilty of wrong doing, then the whole company is on the hook. Todd’s partners may be putting a metaphorical gun to Todd’s head at the moment and saying, “Make this go away, NOW, before you bankrupt the whole company.”
Am I happy about this?
God, no. I’m really, really not.
Law suits are grueling, ugly, time consuming, soul-killing affairs. I hate that Neil had to go through it. And I hate that Todd has such weakness of spirit that he gets himself into these things. What a waste of material. What a friggin’ waste.
PAD
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Well, on the bright side, it may pave the way to getting Miracleman cleared up somewhat. It is indeed sad that it came down to a trial, but Todd brought it upon himself, and he’ll have to live with the consequences. As for Gaiman, I’m happy that the jury saw the righteousness of his position and acted upon it. May this ugly chapter in cmics history now be ended so everyone can get on with life and get back to making good comics…
Not counting appeals (and I’m sure Todd will) now Neil will have to clean up the Miracleman copyright mess if he wants to continue the story. The question has been brought up as to whether Eclipse owned the rights or only had American publication rights, whether Alan Davis parted with his rights, and most importantly, whether Dez Skinn had the rights to begin with.
Someone needs to write the Miracleman rights up for the CBG. we amy all be grateful for a guide before this is over.
Where’s Perry Mason, et. al.; when you really need them?
Hope Robert Ingersol will write this up for CBG soon!
You may already know about this, but there’s a cool book out now called “Kimota,” by George Khoury (I think that’s the correct spelling) that gives a pretty thorough account of the whole rights-to-Miracleman question. It’s really pretty fascinating.
Whether or not it was a face-saving incident or not, the Tood-and-Neil-sign-an-autograph bit after the trial did make Todd look a little bit better in my eyes. Not much, considering how repugnant his behavior regarding fellow creators is, but a little bit.
Then again, I’m always happy the dog survives in the movies.
i’m happy. love gaiman, detest mcfarlane
I read about that “get the autograph” thing. Seemed utterly manipulative on McFarlane’s part. A last-ditch effort to make himself look good.
PAD
It looked the same to me, but at least a young fan got the autographs and the photo…
assuming the kid really was a fan.
Cynicism sneaking into my attempt at optimism. @#$%^!
According to icv2, the kid was the son of one of McFarlane’s attorneys.
Well, at least Neil looks good in the situation. Then again, why wouldn’t he?