Heidi MacDonald covers the radio beat, listening to the Alan Moore Fanboy Radio interview:
We had a chance to listen to the Alan Moore interview on Fanboy Radio, and in it he dropped a bit of a bombshell into the already ravaged crater that is the rights situation of Marvelman/Miracleman. You’ll recall that this long unavailable comics classic is unavailable because the rights are in dispute among Todd McFarlane, Neil Gaiman and possibly others. McFarlane and Gaiman already had one lawsuit with the rights as part of the stake, and further legal wrangling has crawled along.
The character of Marvelman was actually created by Mick Anglo, a British comics packager of the 50s and 60s. According to Moore, he wrote his version of Marvelman with the understanding that the rights to the character “had lapsed into receivership with the bankruptcy of the company that had published his adventures.That was the entire basis upon which I wrote my Marvelman stories.”
However, now, says Moore, “We’ve since found out that apparently this was all a pack of lies from the beginning.” Anglo had never lost the rights.
November 17th, 2006 at 10:24 am
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry…
November 17th, 2006 at 11:25 am
This is not a simplification, so far as I can see.
And I thought for sure you were going to try and work in an Elvis Costello nod here, Graeme…
November 17th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
If what Moore says is accurate, then we add another layer of complexity to this already insane situation. What is UK copyright law at the time Anglo wrote and whether any of the subsequent amendments in copyright law apply retroactively. Ugh. Mabye a trade will come out in my lifetime (next 50 years, I hope), but I’m not holding out hope for anytime soon.
It’s a shame because I had an opportunity to read Moore and Gaiman’s run and it really is nothing short of brillant. I was amazed on how much influence this series has on books being created today. Who didn’t think of Miracleman when they read Infinite Crisis and the revelations of certain key characters?
Maybe once I pass the bar I will offer to do some pro bono work to clear things up
November 17th, 2006 at 6:57 pm
Under a 1993 EU directive (which applies to the UK) copyrights last until 70 years after the creator dies. Not only does this apply retroactively to material created before 1993, it actually took some material *out of* the public domain and put it back under copyright protection until the new longer term expired. (Peter Pan is a well-known example.) If Mick does still own the rights, we’re talking at least 2077 before M—–man goes Public Domain in Europe.
Of course the same is true of nearly any work of comics. Unless it was created before 1923 (US) or the creator died before 1936 (EU), it’s almost certainly copyrighted, and you need the owner to authorise publication. The question here is simply: Who is that?
November 18th, 2006 at 1:31 am
Of course, just beause Mick Angelo owns the original character, doesn’t mean he owns works created from it, even if they are in affect bootlegs. If I put Mickey Mouse on a shirt, Disney can sue me, but I doubt they can then take my drawings of Mickey and sell them.
November 19th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
Honestly, what this means is the Miracle Man profit pie has to be split with him if this ever gets published… assuming Mick Angelo and others can come to an agreement to the size the slices.
November 19th, 2006 at 10:10 pm
To paraphrase Homer Simpson: “Yummm, profit pie…”
November 19th, 2006 at 11:19 pm
Argh…
November 21st, 2006 at 12:12 am
Honestly, that’s not really a bombshell, is it? Didn’t George Khoury’s KIMOTA! The Miracleman Companion that came out about 5 years ago say as much?