Eh, Friedrich’s handling of things hasn’t been perfect, but brushing all the legal specifics and conflicting stories aside, the basic facts are these — as a 75-million dollar Ghost Rider movie is about to come out, one of the creators of the character is basically living in the gutter. That math doesn’t add up.
The onus isn’t on Friedrich to be the bigger man, because he’s not the bigger man. He’s just one dude struggling to keep his rent paid. You can’t compare a guy without many other options signing another man’s artwork at a con, to a multi-billion dollar corporation stripping a man of his livelihood and say “oh well, they both made mistakes, guess they’re even.”
The story of Gary Friedrich has inspired me to write a story about a man whose work continues to bring prosperity and joy to almost everyone but the man who did the work in the first place. After three decades, when that man asks for a little something in return, those who prospered most decide to repay him by taking turns raping him on a pinball machine.
If Gary tries to get money from the biography I’ll write, I’ll just sue him until his life is legally not his anymore.
I have absolutely no problem with these creators not getting royalties from their creations under work-for-hire contracts. They created them for Marvel/DC. Today it’s easier for a creator to retain their creations with various independent companies out there to take their work to.
My problem lies with the pettiness of Marvel or DC. It in no way hurts them or their product to give the creator the recognition he is due. I wouldn’t expect anyone to change the name of “The Dark Knight Rises” to “Bob Kane and Bill Finger’s Batman: The Dark Knight Rises,” but how in the world does it hurt your brand to put their names in the opening credits? And not allowing the likes of Friedrich to use that small bit of pride on the convention circuit in order to make a living? THAT’S a dick move. They’re not trying to infringe on copyright by saying they own the character, they’re just trying to make a little coin by trading off their accomplishments.
I understand that a corporation must protect its copyrights/trademarks/properties, but I think Marvel has uses this Friedrich situation to take things WAY too far.
Seriously, this whole “creators getting screwed” thing is getting ridiculous. They were hired by a company to create these characters. Ty Templeton had it right, Friedrich wasn’t a completely innocent victim that Marvel picked on – He sued them first and they had every right to counter-sue and defend themselves. And fans and other creators are paying his fines for him anyway, so why bother even talking about it anymore?
That said, Bill Finger definitely got screwed. That’s a creator who people should talk about when they bring up someone that was robbed of their work.
“They were hired by a company to create these characters.”
No, they were hired to create 20 to 30 pages of words and/or pictures. They signed a work-for-hire contract because that’s the only kind of contract there was to sign at the time if you wanted to make comics.
The way you phrase it makes it sound like they sat Friedrich down and said “okay, we want you to create a character we’re going to exploit for hundreds of millions of dollars. We’re going to pay you a few hundred dollars for this. Sign here” and he did so with a smile on his face.
Big budget superhero movies didn’t even exist in the 70s. Ghost Rider was just supposed to be a one-off character in an anthology comic. Saying Friedrich has nothing to complain about because “HE knew what he was signing away!” when he put his name on some form in the mid-70s is completely disingenuous.
While Bill Finger deserves recognition for everything he’s done for Batman as a character, he DIDN’T create The Joker…. That distinction goes to Mr. Jerry Robinson. He passed away in December of 2011. RIP.
But then again, that depends on who you ask… to this day, there are still disputes over the true creator of the character… both Robinson & Kane had different positions :S
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![[image]](http://cdn.gs.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2012/05/gammasquadridleyscott6-150x150.jpg)
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Ditko, unlike Kirby, got his art back, though. Currently, he’s in the process of using it for scrap.
Seriously.
Yeah, I wasn’t sure if I should go 3-screws on Ditko…but being screwed by your own craziness counts, right?
Considering that Ditko created or co-created most of the characters that Watchmen were based on, I’m not sure if three screws is enough.
Saw this webcomic that was an interesting counterpoint to the Gary Friedrich situation.
http://tytempletonart.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/now-it-makes-sense-revised.jpg?w=400&h=1699
Eh, Friedrich’s handling of things hasn’t been perfect, but brushing all the legal specifics and conflicting stories aside, the basic facts are these — as a 75-million dollar Ghost Rider movie is about to come out, one of the creators of the character is basically living in the gutter. That math doesn’t add up.
The onus isn’t on Friedrich to be the bigger man, because he’s not the bigger man. He’s just one dude struggling to keep his rent paid. You can’t compare a guy without many other options signing another man’s artwork at a con, to a multi-billion dollar corporation stripping a man of his livelihood and say “oh well, they both made mistakes, guess they’re even.”
In other words, that comic is dumb.
The story of Gary Friedrich has inspired me to write a story about a man whose work continues to bring prosperity and joy to almost everyone but the man who did the work in the first place. After three decades, when that man asks for a little something in return, those who prospered most decide to repay him by taking turns raping him on a pinball machine.
If Gary tries to get money from the biography I’ll write, I’ll just sue him until his life is legally not his anymore.
You have a wonderful future ahead of you with the legal department of any major entertainment company.
I have absolutely no problem with these creators not getting royalties from their creations under work-for-hire contracts. They created them for Marvel/DC. Today it’s easier for a creator to retain their creations with various independent companies out there to take their work to.
My problem lies with the pettiness of Marvel or DC. It in no way hurts them or their product to give the creator the recognition he is due. I wouldn’t expect anyone to change the name of “The Dark Knight Rises” to “Bob Kane and Bill Finger’s Batman: The Dark Knight Rises,” but how in the world does it hurt your brand to put their names in the opening credits? And not allowing the likes of Friedrich to use that small bit of pride on the convention circuit in order to make a living? THAT’S a dick move. They’re not trying to infringe on copyright by saying they own the character, they’re just trying to make a little coin by trading off their accomplishments.
I understand that a corporation must protect its copyrights/trademarks/properties, but I think Marvel has uses this Friedrich situation to take things WAY too far.
Seriously, this whole “creators getting screwed” thing is getting ridiculous. They were hired by a company to create these characters. Ty Templeton had it right, Friedrich wasn’t a completely innocent victim that Marvel picked on – He sued them first and they had every right to counter-sue and defend themselves. And fans and other creators are paying his fines for him anyway, so why bother even talking about it anymore?
That said, Bill Finger definitely got screwed. That’s a creator who people should talk about when they bring up someone that was robbed of their work.
Fair assessment, except the part where Marvel went after his convention income. That’s just lowdown and dirty.
“They were hired by a company to create these characters.”
No, they were hired to create 20 to 30 pages of words and/or pictures. They signed a work-for-hire contract because that’s the only kind of contract there was to sign at the time if you wanted to make comics.
The way you phrase it makes it sound like they sat Friedrich down and said “okay, we want you to create a character we’re going to exploit for hundreds of millions of dollars. We’re going to pay you a few hundred dollars for this. Sign here” and he did so with a smile on his face.
Big budget superhero movies didn’t even exist in the 70s. Ghost Rider was just supposed to be a one-off character in an anthology comic. Saying Friedrich has nothing to complain about because “HE knew what he was signing away!” when he put his name on some form in the mid-70s is completely disingenuous.
Let’s not forget that Bill Finger pretty much created the Joker, one of the greatest (if not the greatest) Batman villains.
While Bill Finger deserves recognition for everything he’s done for Batman as a character, he DIDN’T create The Joker…. That distinction goes to Mr. Jerry Robinson. He passed away in December of 2011. RIP.
But then again, that depends on who you ask… to this day, there are still disputes over the true creator of the character… both Robinson & Kane had different positions :S