Comments on: When indies go super

By: Torsten Adair

Torsten Adair — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 08:00:34 +0000

The Googlewhack name is not a problem, as one can always use the “d/b/a” technique as a storefront. I’m quite taken with the antelope pineapple name… good for a rock band or anthology title.

Unfortunately, the company ceased publication, a victim of the “lit bomb” speculation fueled by libraries and bookstores in the early 21st Century. The company’s assets were purchased at auction by Egmont, with plans to develop a line of novels set in the Ottoman Empire.

By: Frank S. Kim

Frank S. Kim — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 06:51:46 +0000

CBrown: That’s because of the way US copyright law defines “work made for hire.” In order to be “work made for hire” it has to be either “a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment” (since few comic publishers today hire creators as regular employees with full benefits, this doesn’t apply to most comics) or “a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work…as a compilation.” DC’s thinking is that if one person does the writing AND the drawing, it doesn’t fit the definition of “a collective work” or “a compilation.”

By: CBrown

CBrown — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 22:47:07 +0000

I have heard of this “No writing AND drawing for DC characters unless you are incorporated” rule before. Can anyone elucidate exactly what the legal issues involved are?

By: The Beat

The Beat — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 21:39:02 +0000

DMZ is creator-owned, not work for hire. Brian owns it.

By: b3n

b3n — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 21:33:26 +0000

I wonder if anyone knows whether Brian Wood has to be incorporated in order to contribute his few-page segments to DMZ. I merely speculate that as his segments don’t constitute the lion’s share of most issues (I’m reading it in trades, and haven’t seen all of them), that perhaps he wouldn’t need to Brian Wood, LLC in the same way that Eddie Campbell had to create Unrelatedfirstword Unrelatedsecondword in order to produce a fully-realized commercial product.

By: Steve Flack

Steve Flack — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 20:14:27 +0000

I remember Kyle Baker talking about this back during the “Superman’s Babysitter” fiasco. That’s why that story is credited to him and someone else (his wife, I think) even though he did it all by himself.

-Steve!