Chris Roberson talks about leaving DC at CBR.com today and this bit about what it really means to be a creator/owner with Vertigo was something I hadn't thought about before...
Well, I think as with the contract for "Watchmen" and for "V For Vendetta" and all manner of other things that preceded Vertigo, that the Vertigo contract has been drafted with the best intentions. For example, the current configuration of the contract, which has changed in relatively recent years, stipulates that the copyright is owned entirely by the creators; there's a fair division of money that comes in, both from sales of the book and from any exploitation in different media, television, film, things like that. But the way it's constructed, DC has the right of negotiation to sell those things. So with the best of intentions, it's a deal that, if a TV show or movie is made of a comic, or just is optioned to be made into a TV show or film, that the creators get half the money, which sounds like a great deal. Except when you factor in that DC itself is part of an entertainment company that makes TV and film, and that it's beneficial for DC to be able to point to unrealized or still potential properties that might be turned into things.
With the specific example of "iZombie," DC simply refused to sell the rights; there were at least four instances that I know of where people have wanted to make "iZombie" a TV show and were told the rights were not available for sale because DC was thinking about doing something with them. So how it works in actual practice is, DC gets the option on those things without spending any money for it because they're the ones who sell it, and the creators are left with no remuneration for that because they have no say in whether or not their thing is sold. That would definitely fall under the category of moral rights because in an ideal world the creator would have some influence over how those things are exercised.
I certainly didn't see that from the outside as a reader, or from the inside during my brief time working for DC as a work for hire writer, if there was a similar kind of move with work for hire stuff in the DC Universe. There, the solution has been financial. The solution in almost all these cases is, if there's any kind of ethical question or possible disagreement about how things are used, if you give money to the creators, that absolves all sins, when in at least the case with Moore for example, Moore doesn't want money. He just doesn't want these things to be used, he doesn't want those rights to be exploited in terms of movies or prequels or what have you. Money is good, but it's not the answer to everything.
More here:
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Yes, that is very interesting. I hadn't thought about negotiation/refusal rights. I just assumed if you owned the thing you also completely controlled the rights. Wouldn't be a problem if DC and the creator were on the same page, but clearly they're often not.
Very interesting details -- thanks, Doc!