Alan Moore on Zack Snyder

Shawn Smith Collective

NothingSound wrote:

Didn't Moore have to consent to the movie being made? They must have paid him a royalty fee for his characters. If he didn't want the movie to be made, he probably had the power to keep it from being made.

The publisher, DC Comics (DC/Vertigo in some cases), owns the rights. Moore is not a part of the equation. He was an EMPLOYEE of the company.

This had always been common practice in all mediums until the early 90's, when musicians began to negotiate for control of publishing rights when signing record deals. This enabled musicians to control their masters and reap the rewards of licensing fees.

Authors shopping their pre-existing work to a publisher may be able to negotiate with the publishers for control of their work...as in, selling the rights to the story. After all, the publisher didn't pay them to create the literature in that case...they wrote it on their own and are just hoping to get mass distribution and a pay day at that point. But that's simply not how it works when a writer is a salaried employee of a company.

Pauk

Rhinocerous Surprise wrote:

To be fair, if the movie succeeds, it'll be because of Moore's source material. So pay him for the use of the IP, and nothing more - unlike, say, Stan Lee, who had a far more involved approach in his franchise's movies. It is a sucky situation for the Snyder, cos if the movie is good, it'll be because Moore gave him great material. If the movie sucks, it'll be because Snyder sucks.

Definitely. It's a win win scenario for Moore and a lose lose scenario for Snyder, and that's why it's always best for the original author to distance themselves from the film.

Rhinocerous Surprise

Shawn Smith Collective wrote:

The publisher, DC Comics (DC/Vertigo in some cases), owns the rights. Moore is not a part of the equation. He was an EMPLOYEE of the company.

This had always been common practice in all mediums until the early 90's, when musicians began to negotiate for control of publishing rights when signing record deals. This enabled musicians to control their masters and reap the rewards of licensing fees.

Authors shopping their pre-existing work to a publisher may be able to negotiate with the publishers for control of their work...as in, selling the rights to the story. After all, the publisher didn't pay them to create the literature in that case...they wrote it on their own and are just hoping to get mass distribution and a pay day at that point. But that's simply not how it works when a writer is a salaried employee of a company.

Ah. In that case, disregard most of my post up above. I'm far more familiar with webomics than print comics, and the ownership of rights is one of the huge gulfs between the two.

justjoshingu

everyone should read watchmen..... period.

fuck

Shawn Smith Collective wrote:

The publisher, DC Comics (DC/Vertigo in some cases), owns the rights. Moore is not a part of the equation. He was an EMPLOYEE of the company.

This had always been common practice in all mediums until the early 90's, when musicians began to negotiate for control of publishing rights when signing record deals. This enabled musicians to control their masters and reap the rewards of licensing fees.

Authors shopping their pre-existing work to a publisher may be able to negotiate with the publishers for control of their work...as in, selling the rights to the story. After all, the publisher didn't pay them to create the literature in that case...they wrote it on their own and are just hoping to get mass distribution and a pay day at that point. But that's simply not how it works when a writer is a salaried employee of a company.

yeah, I think he tried to do something to get V for Vendetta pulled, but had no success in doing so.

justjoshingu wrote:

everyone should read watchmen..... period.

yep.

Shawn Smith Collective

Rhinocerous Surprise wrote:

Ah. In that case, disregard most of my post up above. I'm far more familiar with webomics than print comics, and the ownership of rights is one of the huge gulfs between the two.

Interesting! Sounds like web comics are similar to newspaper dailies in that sense. I recall reading that a lot of the creators do their comics on their own and then get picked up by the papers, so the paper has no control over the comics in any way. Content, licensing, etc.

With print comics and graphic novels, it's pretty much the opposite. The publisher controls everything and uses the writers and artists on-staff for their projects. However, for guys like Moore, I'm not sure if he's continued to sign longterm deals with publishers not named DC or if he's started to fund projects on his own and then pitch them to publishers afterward.

Rhinocerous Surprise

Shawn Smith Collective wrote:

Interesting! Sounds like web comics are similar to newspaper dailies in that sense. I recall reading that a lot of the creators do their comics on their own and then get picked up by the papers, so the paper has no control over the comics in any way. Content, licensing, etc.

With print comics and graphic novels, it's pretty much the opposite. The publisher controls everything and uses the writers and artists on-staff for their projects. However, for guys like Moore, I'm not sure if he's continued to sign longterm deals with publishers not named DC or if he's started to fund projects on his own and then pitch them to publishers afterward.

That's it exactly - the comics are drawn, and then most people go looking for syndication. The big thing about webcomics, and the infinite potential of webcomics, is income. Wide syndication, despite it being pretty much the holy grail of comic strip cartooning for the 20th century, doesn't really pay as well as most people might think. However, if you keep ownership of your strip, make a website for it, and it reaches a reasonable audience, there's huge potential for making a living from it, or at least a good income. Merchandising and advertising all go straight to the creator's pocket, despite the fact that you're essentially giving your comic away for free.

Which, while being a slight tangent, does have relevance here. You're never going to see any kind of adaptation of Penny Arcade or PvP that doesn't have a huge involvement of the respective creators.

tybird

NothingSound wrote:

Also, it's going to make Moore very rich. Right now Watchmen is on a 16 week backorder off of Amazon!

From book royalties, yes....direct money from the movies....No, he transfers the rights to the artist.

tybird

justjoshingu wrote:

everyone should read watchmen..... period.

....and the answer is true. :cool:

merkinball

Vedderlution_Baby! wrote:

Not to derail the thread but I took a look at the dark tower comics and they're pretty damn sweet.

Yeah, it's a great storyline (to continue the derail). They'll be a version of the Stand coming out soon too, that has a similar look to it.

And yes, everyone should read Watchmen. And then read it a few more times to pick everything up you missed the first couple times. Mrs. Merkinball (who only reads Fables) has been reading it lately based on the talk about the movie.

I'm really looking forward to this book (Watching the Watchmen):

http://www.amazon.com/Watching-Watchmen-Dave-Gibbons/dp/1848560419/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218085507&sr=8-2

PearlJamaholic

merkinball wrote:

Yeah, it's a great storyline (to continue the derail). They'll be a version of the Stand coming out soon too, that has a similar look to it.

lets keep the hijacking going....a 3rd dark tower series is coming out the same month as the stand series. and where are the dark tower movies?

(i think we need a dark tower thread)