Seems I am reading lots of news about old comics creators losing court battles over rights to characters.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/nicolas-cage-ghost-rider-marvel-comics-276589

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I would have thought the law of copyright would have protected their rights?

Thats the problem, they didn't have the copyright. They signed away their rights to anything they created for the comic companies and were just employees.

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This reminds me of all the record company shenanigans. Once you sign on the dotted line, it's no longer yours. I wish creators would read the fine print instead of the money symbols.

Its not quite the same. A musician is signing away the rights to something they created while in most cases the artists are being paid to come in and create something.

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It's a really hard line to draw. I get paid to produce survey reports for my company, if paid employees of comic book companies can assume ownership of the characters they create whist being employed, then its only a thin line for people in my position to then declare ownership and future value from the reports that I produce.

I don't know where that line should be drawn or how else you can allow them some form of rights over their creations while at the same time being paid employees.

Imagine a film production company where the artists are paid to produce concept art for the characters. Then when the film is made they demand royalties or control over the designs they produced.

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Without delving into the details, it annoys me when people complain about deals that they signed. This goes for creators, artists, bands and athletes.

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Do not bore me with such trite cliches. For I have you in my clutches, and should I choose, I could snuff out your insignificant lives in an instant.

I am with DOOM here. If they made the argument 20 years later, we paid you for work so we own the character, thats one thing. But these guys signed, at the time, specific contracts saying, any characters they created are owned by the company, and they were willing to sign it in order to get a job they really wanted to have....then thats on them.

There have been several notable people who decided, I don't want that deal, I am going to take the hard road and do it on my own, and I will own everything I do. That is a tough decision and I would say most who make that decision don't make it, because its hard to produce a comic and get it out to people (or was, it is much much easier to do it today in the world of digital and web comics). Those who wanted the fast road to success by signing on with the big team, they knew the deal they were getting upfront. It wasn't sneaky or underhanded, it was a contract.

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