Read before you sign....

Usually in this space I like to speak about Comics and some things that I'm reading presently or have read in the past that have really left a mark with me.  Watchmen, The Avengers run from #168-#177 known as The Korvac Saga, and the Sentinels story during the X-Men run that Denny O'neil and Neal Adams did at the end of the series first run, #57-#61.  But in the comic world there has been a lot of uproar and discussion over two incidents that are taking place in the court system.  The most recent involving Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman.  Kirkman is being sued by former artist on the series Tony Moore, Moore did the art for the first six issues and the covers for several other issues.  While I am not privy to the details of the suit, it has been reported on Hollywood Insider's site that Moore is suing for unpaid royalties and breach of contract.  This is troubling because Moore and Kirkman were friends before breaking into the comic business and had worked together on many other projects prior to Walking Dead and to see a friendship degenerate into litigation, especially publicly, is unfortunate.

The other legal news involves Marvel Comics and Ghost Rider creator Gary Friedrich.  This suit has its genesis back in the 2000's when it was announced there would be a Ghost Rider film.  Friedrich sued Marvel claiming ownership of the character that originally debuted in Marvel Spotlight #5, and in that book on the splash page it credits the creation of the character to Friedrich.

But Friedrich claimed in his suit that he still owns the character likeness in relation to toys and films.  Marvel countered that by showing an agreement that was executed by both parties in 1978 where it was agreed tat Friedrich would give up all rights to the character.  The specific crucial language stated:

     "SUPPLIER (i.e. Friedrich) expressly grants to MARVEL forever all rights of any kind and                   nature in and to the work, the rights to use SUPPLIER'S name in connection therewith and agrees that   MARVEL in the sole and exclusive copyright proprietor thereof having all rights of ownership therein."

That says pretty clearly that Friedrich has given any right he may have had to Marvel once he signed that agreement and cashed the check he forever relinquished nay and all rights to the character. That term was standard in all of the Marvel Work-for-Hire contracts, it was used throughout the industry.  Friedrich also claimed that the contract was an adhesion contract, which means that it is so grossly one-one sided and that it prevented him from seeking other work, which also wasn't the case as he was free to seek work at other publishers, and he also could have declined to sign the contract and retained his creation for himself.

But the ownership resolution was not the end of the matter.  In a subsequent action Marvel has obtained an injunction against Friedrich prohibiting him from "displaying, producing, advertising for sale, selling, redistributing, adapting..." and it goes on from there.  Marvel has effectively prevented Friedrich from doing anything with the character he created, so for him to sign and sell any Ghost Rider books at a convention would be a violation of the court ordered injunction.  In addition to that Marvel won an award for damages in the amount of $17,000 for past infringements of their copyright.  Friedrich, who is pretty much destitute has said that he will appeal, and on that issue he may prevail.  Marvel must show certain damages that support the award and unless they can show that with any specificity then Friedrich should prevail.  And even if he doesn't his unfortunate financial situation makes him pretty much judgment proof.  And even if they got a judgment against him, it would probably be discharged in a bankruptcy proceeding anyway, so Marvel will probably not collect that award.

There has been a LOT of anger aimed at Marvel behind this situation, but I feel that many people are having a knee-jerk reaction here.  Looking at the facts of the situation in a neutral light, Friedrich could have said "no" and kept it himself.  Once he signed that agreement he no longer owned Ghost Rider, and that was that.  Friedrich had no chance in that suit and it could be argued it was frivolous given the timing of it, right around the announcement of a Ghost Rider film.  It could be argued the he was trying to "cash in" by getting a quick settlement off of nuisance value.  I'm not saying that is what he did, I'm saying that it could argued that is what he did.  So Friedrich is not entirely blameless here.  But Marvel's actions beyond the resolution of the ownership issue are purely punitive.  Clearly creators have sold autographed things they created for the big publishers at conventions for years and it's never been a problem, but for some reason Friedrich is being singled out.  I don't know who he pissed off, but clearly this is personal due to the response by Marvel.

Again Marvel is being vilified by all this, but people should take one thing from this: ALWAYS KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SIGNING!!  I have always been that guy to read anything I sign, and this was before I started law school.  As an attorney I always tell my fiends and clients not to sign ANYTHING unless I read it first.  And yet I get calls periodically from people in a beef because they didn't read, or bring it to me to examine, something before they signed it.  In this case Friedrich knew that if signed he was relinquishing all rights, if he didn't read it he should have consulted with someone who knows what they're doing, so he has to take some responsibility here.  But conversely whoever he pissed off at Marvel needs to let this go, for them to try and shake this guy down for $17,000, knowing full well that he doesn't have it, is just piling on and mean spirited.  The company Marvel doesn't deserve all the bad press behind this, the one guy making this an issue damn sure does though! But since its "Marvel" on the court documents and not "Small-dicked, insecure, petty, jackass", Marvel has to eat the public hatred on this, and that's bullshit.

Sorry for the deviation from the norm, but next time I MAY have an interview with a well known creator for you.  Can't name names yet, but if I get the green light next week I'll let you all know...trust me it's way bigger than I thought I could ever get.....

Until next time....