Thanks Frabig!
It's worth quoting more in full from that,
"When I first signed my creator-owned publishing contract with DC Comics, the company was run by honest men and women of integrity, who (for the most part) interpreted the details of that agreement fairly and above-board," Willingham wrote. "When problems inevitably came up we worked it out, like reasonable men and women. Since then, over the span of twenty years or so, those people have left or been fired, to be replaced by a revolving door of strangers, of no measurable integrity, who now choose to interpret every facet of our contract in ways that only benefit DC Comics and its owner companies. At one time the Fables properties were in good hands, and now, by virtue of attrition and employee replacement, the Fables properties have fallen into bad hands."
He added later, "The one thing in our contract the DC lawyers can't contest, or reinterpret to their own benefit, is that I am the sole owner of the intellectual property. I can sell it or give it away to whomever I want. I chose to give it away to everyone. If I couldn't prevent Fables from falling into bad hands, at least this is a way I can arrange that it also falls into many good hands. Since I truly believe there are still more good people in the world than bad ones, I count it as a form of victory."
The move wasn't made merely to spite DC, though. Willingham says that as he has aged, his thoughts on copyright have shifted significantly. He says that he thinks intellectual property should remain with its original owner for a fairly limited time -- no more than 30 years -- and that after a sale, the property should stay with the new owner for 10 or fewer.
"Fables has been my baby for about twenty years now. It's time to let it go," he wrote.
I wish I could say I'm surprised by his allegations.
Author
Topic: Bill Willingham's Fables is now in the Public Domain (Read 210 times)
