Attorney, Author, and Business Consultant for the Comic Book Industry

Filtering by Tag: comic book contract

What Red Flags Should You Look for in a Comic Book Contract?

Added on January 15, 2024 by Gamal Hennessy.

If you are building a career in comics, you’re going to have to deal with a lot of different types of contracts. They may be work-for-hire agreements (See What Is Work-for-Hire Agreements), collaboration agreements (See What Is a Collaboration Agreement?), licensing deals, shopping deals, merchandise deals, and a lot of other things in between. Every deal is going to be different and the way you approach any specific deal will be based on your leverage, the size of the deal, and several distinctive factors, but if you understand the basics of what a good deal looks like, it will be much easier for you to negotiate the good contracts and reject the bad ones.

I have been a comic book lawyer since 1996 (See What Is Comic Book Law?). I have been an educator and business consultant to comic creators since 2012 (See Bio). Over the past twelve years, I’ve made myself available to answer questions from writers, artists, and publishers about everything from copyright to marketing to licensing to AI. The one important question that comes up over and over again is a variation of “How do I identify good and bad contracts?”

I’ve developed and refined my answer to this question over the past twenty-eight years. Basically, a good contract has a beneficial contractual balance. A bad contract has a detrimental contractual balance.

What Is Contractual Balance?

When I use the term contractual balance, I’m talking about the relative weight between four basic factors in an agreement, relationship, rights, revenue, and responsibilities:

Relationship is the connection between the people involved in the deal. For example, in a work-for-hire deal, someone is ordering and paying for the work (the client) and someone doing the work and getting paid for it (the talent). Understanding the relationship is important because it establishes the expectations for the rest of the deal.
Rights define who owns and controls the intellectual property associated with the deal. Copyrights and trademarks are fundamental assets in the comic book industry (See Image and Story), so any legal agreement needs to establish who has those rights, how long they have them, and what they can and can’t do with them. For example, in a t-shirt licensing deal, the side that owns the rights (the licensor) gives the side that wants to sell the t-shirts (the licensee) the right to make and sell the t-shirts under certain conditions.
Revenue explains what happens to the money generated by the deal. There are many different ways to define and generate revenue in comics (See A Simple Guide to Getting Paid in Comics) and a comic book contract needs to spell out who gets how much, when they can expect to get paid, and how can they confirm they are paid correctly. For example, in a creator-owned deal, there might be both an advance and a royalty paid to the creator if and when the comic book makes a profit.
Responsibility describes what each side in the relationship is required to do in order to exercise their rights and collect their revenue. In most cases, your responsibility will come in the form of an action (producing art, selling comics, etc.) but it can also include promises you make about the deal (See Double Indemnity: Are You Protected?) For example, in an exclusive licensing agreement (See Your Exclusive Engagement) a licensor promises not to grant the same license to more than one licensee.

How Do You Measure Contractual Balance?

Once you understand the factors that go into contractual balance, identifying a good contract becomes a matter of comparing the rights, revenue, and responsibilities in light of the relationship.

A good option purchase agreement to turn a comic book series into a film could name the comic creator as a producer (a positive relationship) and offer an above-market purchase price and back-end participation (a positive revenue stream) in exchange for the exclusive rights to the IP (a negative rights position) and delivery of the existing comic (a positive responsibility requirement).

Alternatively, a bad creator-owned deal might list the comic creator as the owner of the IP (a positive relationship), but offers you no money up-front and questionable royalties (a negative revenue result), forces you to give up all control of the IP (a negative rights position) and forces you to pay for producing the final pages (a negative responsibility position).

It is important to understand that almost no contract will give you 100% of everything in a deal. Each side has to give up something, even if that something is minimal. You also need to keep in mind that every paragraph in a contract can shift and adjust contractual balance from one side to another and the equilibrium between the factors can ebb and flow depending on time, profit, and other factors. Understanding contractual balance can help you distinguish good deals from bad ones, but it’s not a substitute for experienced contract analysis from a professional who understands how the industry works.

Have fun with your comic.

Gamal

If you enjoyed this post, consider joining Comics Connection. Comics Connection gives creators a community to elevate their comic book careers. We offer access to business and creative resources you can’t find anywhere else. For a limited time, the first month of membership is free.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A LICENSING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.

The Professional Comic Book Creator for December 2020 (Gifts for Comic Creators)

Added on December 14, 2020 by Gamal Hennessy.

The Gift of Wisdom to Comic Creators from Dave Chappelle

(Creative Contract Consulting)

Dave Chappelle is a legendary comedian. He doesn’t make comics. But he did offer extremely relevant advice for comic creators on every level when it comes to understanding contracts, negotiation leverage, controlling your public image, and deciding who to work with in his latest comedy special on YouTube. I explained his advice in a series of recent posts.

Gifts for the Comic Creator in Your Life

(Creative Contract Consulting)

If you’re trying to figure out the right gift for the comic creator in your life (even if that creator is you), please allow me to offer the following suggestions in both the business and creative aspects of the industry.

Giving Your Books to the Right People

(Comics Experience)

Granular marketing analysis will help you find the readers that love your comic the most. You can’t leave to chance that the right people will magically find your book. The magic is in the analytics.

The Next Generation of Digital Comic Book Publishing

(NerdBot)

Colin Bass gathered the perspectives of comics book readers, independent creators, and representatives of the new digital platform GlobalComix to discuss the present and the future of digital comics worldwide.

Have fun with your comic.

If you have questions about the business or legal aspects of your comic book publishing and you'd like a free consultation, please contact me and we can set something up that fits in with your schedule.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE AN ISSUE WITH YOUR COMIC PROPERTY, DISCUSS IT WITH A QUALIFIED CONTRACT ATTORNEY OR CONTACT C3 FOR A FREE CONSULTATION

Dave Chappelle’s Advice to Comic Creators: Part 3

Added on December 9, 2020 by Gamal Hennessy.

For the past couple of days, I’ve been using Dave Chappelle’s Unforgiven performance to highlight the need for understanding creative contracts. Today, I’d like to take a closer look at the idea of losing the right to use your own name.

Lesson 3: Marketing vs. Manipulation

There is a point in Unforgiven where Chappelle rejects the advice of his friends who tell him to just take Chappelle Show and go to another network. In addition to an analogy of running from one slave master to another, Chappelle mentions that even if he wanted to create a new Chappelle Show, he couldn’t call it Chappelle Show because he signed away his right to use his name that way.

The name and image of an artist can have a significant impact on the success of any creative project. The difference between an A-list actor, writer, or artist can mean the difference between a hit and a failure. This is one of the reasons certain artists are mentioned so prominently in a comic, film, or video game.

But you can’t just use anyone’s name to sell something without their permission. Invasion of Privacy is a set of legal concepts that include the use of someone’s name or likeness for commercial gain, intrusion, undue publicity, and false light.

Companies get around this law by asking artists to allow for their name and image to be used to promote whatever project is being contracted. They also normally acquire the right to use the name of the project itself, because it is hard to ask someone to buy something if you can’t mention what it is.

That isn’t a problem. The problem comes in the way the language is written into the contract. Take this example for instance:

“Company shall have the exclusive right to use the name and likeness of The Artist in connection with the advertising, promotion, exploitation, and exhibition of any product based upon the Material under this Agreement, in perpetuity, throughout the universe in any and all media now known or invented in the future.”

If Chappelle signed a contract that included a clause like this, then he gave up the right to use the title Chappelle Show, even though his name is included in the title and even though the places where the show is being marketed now didn’t exist when he signed the contract. Chappelle’s name belongs to him. Chappelle Show belongs to Comedy Central.

The impact of this clause isn’t hard to see when you see it in isolation. When it is buried in a 25-page contract, and you are three months behind on your rent, and someone is holding a check with your name on it for more money than you’ve ever had in your life, it’s not as easy to see into the future. It happened to Chappelle. It happens to comic creators all the time. But it doesn’t have to happen to you.

Tomorrow, I’ll look at the final lesson I found in Unforgiven. Until then,

Have fun with your comic.

Dave Chappelle’s Advice to Comic Creators: Part 2

Added on December 8, 2020 by Gamal Hennessy.

Yesterday I used Dave Chappelle’s Unforgiven performance to highlight the need for understanding creative contracts. Today, I’d like to take a closer look at the idea of leverage for you and your comics.

Lesson 2: Use and understand your leverage

Leverage in contract negotiation is defined as the power one side has over the other in the pursuit of their interests. Depending on the disparity between the parties, the leverage one side has over the other can define the negotiation process. For example, when Chappelle was a struggling stand-up comic with a wife about to give birth to their first child, he had a lot less leverage than the programming executive at Comedy Central who could give a show to dozens of hungry comics. In the same vein, if Marvel or DC make an offer to an aspiring artist, their leverage might be so high that the artist signs whatever deal put in front of them. Leverage comes from supply and demand. More specifically, control over scarce resources creates leverage.

Scarcity Breeds Power

Comic book publishers have to take the financial risk of releasing an unknown and unproven book. To mitigate this loss and to give themselves the potential for substantial revenue and control on the back end, many of them incorporate biased language into their contracts. Many creators sign those contracts because of their lack of leverage.

The publishers currently corner the market on supply. They often have more experience with the means of production, direct distribution, and some control secondary monetization (merchandise and media licensing).

The number of comic creators who are in demand for the publisher’s supply is massive compared to the number of publishers. To put this into context, there are about 300 comic book publishers in North America. Who knows how many potential artists and writers are out there dreaming of getting their books in print, movies, and games?

The scarcity of publishers relative to the abundance of creators produces a situation where publishers can afford to offer one-sided deals. Every unknown creator who demands a superior deal can be rejected by the publisher because ten or twenty other creators are willing to accept an inferior deal. Since the publisher is primarily looking for books to fill their publishing plan, one unknown book is just as valuable as any other from their perspective. This was the same situation Chappelle faced in the beginning of his career, but that isn’t his situation now.

Options for Creators

In light of the reduced negotiating power that undiscovered creators have, does it make sense to push for a bigger deal for a creator-owned project or work for hire page rate? Yes and no. While you might not be able to wrestle a six-figure advance out of Marvel, there are options you can pursue to make the most of your work.

Establish your reputation in the industry by taking on work for hire projects that will get you exposure for your skill without exposing the characters and storylines that you are saving for creator-owned work.
Find a more flexible small press that will offer more reasonable terms for new creators.
Explore independent publishing if only to increase your name recognition in the market.
Accept the biased deal as a means of name recognition.

While none of these methods is a quick road to fame and fortune, they can boost your negotiating power over time. An unknown creator has almost no leverage with a publisher. A creator with a following who represents tens of thousands of copies sold per month can command lucrative exclusive contracts, back end participation deals, and creator-owned contracts that give them considerable revenue and control potential. That’s one of the reasons why Chappelle said he prefers working with Netflix over Comedy Central. When he was negotiating with Comedy Central, he had no leverage. In his discussions with Netflix, he has the power to pull content off the air with a phone call.

Need to Understand Your Agreements

Whether you choose to accept a one-sided deal, negotiate better terms, or walk away, you need to understand what the terms are for the deal you are being given. It might make sense to take a bad deal now if it will boost your career later. The key is making an informed decision about what you are doing. Whether you decide to use a service like mine or not, knowing what you are signing and why is key to building and leveraging your negotiating power.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at a more nuanced element of Chapelle’s lesson. Until then…

Have fun with your comic.

A Simple Guide to the Artist Collaboration Agreement

Added on April 2, 2019 by Gamal Hennessy.

By Gamal Hennessy

This is a modified excerpt from a book I’m working on called Independent Comic Book Publishing. It’s designed to walk you through the basics of artist collaboration agreements. The post is geared towards independent comic book creators, but the information is also applicable to freelance creatives and independent entertainers of all types. While this can’t be used as legal advice, I hope you’ll find it helpful.

Many historical comic book contracts were between artists and publishers. A company like Marvel would hire the artist or writer to create stories for their characters on a work for hire basis. Today, the rise of technology and markets to support independent comic book publishing has increased the need for contracts between comic book creators. Unfortunately, I’ve met too many creative teams that decided to make a comic together without a contract.

What many comic book creators don't realize is that this type of contract is just as important as the one between the artists and the publisher. Without a well-defined artist collaboration agreement, an otherwise successful partnership can lead to misunderstandings, conflict and disputes down the road that can be just as costly as any lawsuit with a publisher.

When Do You Need an Artist Collaboration Agreement?

Certain creative endeavors like comics, movies, films and theater are normally created through a collective effort. While there are some comic book creators who do everything on their own, most projects are created by the continuing collaboration between the members of the group. In the same way that a music band combines the talent of each musician to make music, a creative team comes together to make a comic book (even if they only come together in a cloud server that they upload the work to).

You need an artist collaboration agreement when members of the creative team are going to own a piece of the book. Just like a band or a movie crew; each member of the team should know what he or she is getting out of any deal that involves the property they work on. This might not be significant when you are selling a couple hundred books a year on your website and losing money on the cost of production. This becomes a huge issue when a property is picked up for a film, TV show, video game or merchandise deal. It helps to have all the issues squared away before Hollywood starts calling. If you wait too long, anger, resentment and actual litigation could tear the team apart just when things start to take off. You need a signed artist collaboration agreement with each member of the creative team before you start production on the book.

What is an Artist Collaboration Agreement?

An artist collaboration agreement defines the rights and responsibilities between two or more parties who plan to share in the ownership of the overall intellectual property. An artist collaboration agreement is different from a work-for-hire agreement (where one party pays another party to work on an intellectual property project for money and not ownership), or a license agreement (where one party gives another party the right to use some aspect of the intellectual property in exchange for payment).

While an artist collaboration agreement will share some of the same foundation and housekeeping terms found in other comic book contracts (See my post on A Simple Guide to Creative Contracts), there are several basic and business terms unique to this type of agreement.

What are the Main Elements of an Artist Collaboration Agreement?

A well-drafted artist collaboration agreement will address the following issues:

1) The Parties describes who is involved in the contract.

2) The Work explains what the Parties are trying to create. This should be described in as much detail as possible, but at a minimum it should include.

a. The working title

b. A description of what the final product will be, whether it’s a web comic, single print issue, graphic novel or ongoing series

c. The basic elements of the story, including the characters, settings, and other identifiable aspects of the book. If a synopsis and/or character designs of the work are available, they should be included in the contract.

3) The Copyright: breaks down the copyright ownership among all the members of the creative team as a percentage.

4) The Trademarks: breaks down the trademark ownership among all the members of the creative team as a percentage.

5) The Compensation: divides the revenue for all possible uses of the story and characters in the book, including:

a. Interactive Media

b. Screenplay Licensing

c. Premium Cable Licensing

d. Subscription Television Licensing:

e. Broadcast Television Licensing

f. Advertising

g. Emerging Media Licensing

h. Novelization or Publishing:

i. Merchandising

j. Trademark Licensing (other than merchandise):

k. Live Performance Licensing

You might notice that the division of compensation goes far beyond the money you might collect for the initial publication of the comic book. But comic book stories and characters can exist and make money in any form of media now. It’s better to negotiate the video game rights for your story up front, even if your book never makes it to Xbox.

6) The Advance Recoupment: Any and all payments made to any party before revenue is generated and then deducted from the Compensation when revenue is generated. For example, the artist might get a page rate for their work on the book before publication, but that money can get recouped by the rest of the group when the book goes on sale.

7) The Responsibilities: lists the business, creative, and administrative responsibilities of each party in the development of the work in terms of both daily management and decision making authority. (See my post It Takes Two Teams to Publish a Successful Comic) It is not uncommon for each member of the team to handle multiple responsibilities including:

a. Business Management (determining budgets, dealing with contracts, etc.)

b. Human Resources (hiring work for hire artists and professionals)

c. Creative Production

i. Editing

ii. Scripts

iii. Artwork

iv. Inking

v. Lettering

vi. Coloring

vii. Design

viii. Flatting

d. Marketing (website maintenance, conventions, and direct market, etc.)

e. Advertising (social media, Diamond ads, etc.)

f. Distribution (online, printing, shipping)

g. Sales (account management, accounts receivable)

h. Finance (accounts payable, taxes)

8) The Withdrawal: What happens if one or more members of the team is unwilling or unable to complete the Work before it is completed. Allowances have to be made for several aspects of the deal including

a. Copyright ownership

b. Trademark ownership

c. Compensation

d. Recoupment (if any)

While the artist collaboration contract can be overly complex when dealing with these issues, the best ones are understandable and don’t include a large amount of legal gymnastics. At the same time the elements of an artist collaboration agreement should not conflict with the terms of any agreement with an outside publisher or licensee of the property. Your legal advisor can review both contracts to ensure there is harmony between them.

Drafting, negotiating, and signing the contracts for your creative project might take some time and cost you some money, but if you sign the right contracts up front, you'll save money in the long-term and put both you and your book in a better position to succeed.

If you’re a comic book creator or freelance artist who has had artist collaboration agreement issues in the past, feel free to share them in the comments below and tell us how you dealt with the problem.

Have fun with your comic.

Gamal

If you enjoyed this post, consider joining Comics Connection. Comics Connection gives creators a community to elevate their comic book careers. We offer access to business and creative resources you can’t find anywhere else. For a limited time, the first month of membership is free.

What is Comic Book Law?

Added on February 23, 2019 by Gamal Hennessy.

By Gamal Hennessy

Lawyers are similar to doctors in terms of specialization. While some of us have a general practice, most of us focus on a particular area. These areas of expertise allow for greater focus and better results for our clients. That’s why you wouldn’t let your podiatrist perform brain surgery on you and you wouldn’t trust your criminal case to your real estate lawyer. Unique industries require unique professionals.

I refer myself as a comic book lawyer, but this isn’t an official area of law. Unlike corporate or constitutional law, you can’t study comic book law in any law school that I know of. It is debatable if there is such a field. This post is my explanation of what comic book law is and why it is important for both creators and the industry. I’ll also offer up the names of three other comic book attorneys who are helping to protect the business and financial elements of this art form.

A Hybrid Legal Specialty

What I refer to as comic book law is a focused form of publishing law that also deals with broader aspects of entertainment law. Comic book law shares similar issues as other types of publishing, including copyright law, contracts, and first amendment issues. Where it differs is in aspects of production before the book is made and associated products after the books are released.

A Cooperative Legal Specialty

Most novels and poems are written by a single individual. Most comics are created by a team of at least two and as many as seven people. Some independent comics are published as the joint effort of a dozen or more professionals (See You Need Two Teams to Publish a Successful Comic). The collaborative nature of comics means that like other cooperative forms of art, contractual relationships between the artists are as important as the agreements between the artists and the distributors. (See All For One: Artist Collaboration Agreements). Whether you’re talking about work for hire contracts, joint ownership agreements or something in between, the ownership of every comic requires a unique type of contract (See What Kind of Contracts Do You Need for Your Comic?). Children’s book publishing also has aspects of collaboration between the illustrator and the author, but the variation of relationships between comic book creators is more varied and complex.

A Commercial Legal Specialty

Comics are also a unique form of publishing based on the life that the characters and stories enjoy off the page. Crossover media, merchandise and derivative products have been part of the comic book business since their infancy (See Superheroes: A Never Ending Battle). Very few novels or prose works generate substantial collectibles or merchandise, unless it’s a children’s book or the book is licensed to become a film. Comic characters generate merchandise as a natural by-product of publication (See Making Comics Isn’t Really About Making Comics Anymore).

From a business and legal standpoint, this means that comic book law needs to consider the intellectual property implications of both copyright and trademark law (See Image and Story: The Role of Copyright and Trademark in Comics), film, television, and video game licensing (See Comics are Thriving in TV and Movies) as well as business formation for new publishers in the market (See The Benefits of Forming an LLC for Your Independent Comic). In many cases, the business and financial impact of the secondary market is more complex and more lucrative than the book itself.

An Established Legal Specialty

Comics have been a staple in international entertainment for decades (See In France, Comic Books Are Serious Business), but like comics in America, comic book law isn’t given the same deference as other areas of law. But this viewpoint ignores the importance of comics as an industry and the ongoing work of a host of legal professionals.

In 2017, comics were a two billion dollar industry not counting movies, merchandise or related products (See Comic Book Sales by Year). There are more than three hundred active comic book publishers in America (See List of Comic Book Publishers) and many of them have comic book lawyers on staff or as outside counsel. Specifically, these three gentlemen have been practicing and/or writing about comic book law for several years.

Thomas Crowell: is a partner in the firm of Lane Crowell LLP, who advises comic book clients as well as other entertainment professionals. He often lectures on comic book law at New York Comic Con and has written an in-depth book on the subject called The Pocket Lawyer for Comic Book Creators
Joe Sergi: is an author and attorney who has both written comics and taught comic creators about their legal rights. While he does not represent comic publishers, he has written The Law for Comic Creators and offers legal insights to professionals at Comics Experience.
Dirk Vanover: is an entertainment and intellectual property attorney who specializes in media, marketing and licensing. He has written extensively on entertainment issues, including Comics Startup 101: Key Business and Legal Issues

Comic book law is not as respected or well known as corporate law or criminal law. It is an adaptive and complex field that requires specific expertise and understanding about the industry. Every comic creator and publisher needs to find the right lawyer to protect the rights and revenue for their work. A unique industry requires unique professionals.

If you enjoyed this post, consider joining Comics Connection. Comics Connection gives creators a community to elevate their comic book careers. We offer access to business and creative resources you can’t find anywhere else. For a limited time, the first month of membership is free.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE AN ISSUE WITH YOUR COMIC PROPERTY, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 AT gamalhennessy@gmail.com FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.

How Do You Register a Copyright for Your Comic?

Added on February 2, 2019 by Gamal Hennessy.

If you don’t see your comic as a viable commercial concept or if you think it is viable but for whatever reason you prefer to you are comfortable with the characters and story being used freely by anyone and everyone, then registration might not make sense for you. But if you plan to invest time, money and energy into your idea and you want a better chance to benefit from your investment, the benefits of registration will be helpful to you

Silence May Not Be Golden for Freelance Comic Creators

Added on November 26, 2018 by Gamal Hennessy.

Companies are trying to prevent freelancers who work for them from disclosing what they get paid. This creates an advantage for the publishers , but it is dangerous for freelancers who lack the information to negotiate their deals in a thoughtful manner

Why am I Qualified to Write a Book about Independent Comics Publishing?

Added on November 6, 2018 by Gamal Hennessy.

The Independent Comic Book Publishing book is being built on a foundation that includes 40 years of experience in the industry, extensive research, and a wide range of interviews.

What Kind of Contracts Do You Need for Your Comic?

Added on April 10, 2017 by Gamal Hennessy.

By Gamal Hennessy, Esq

Independent comic book creators in the 21st century understand the importance of protecting their work with contracts. Some see the explosion of comics in the mass media and hope their story can make it to the screen someday. Others have heard the horror stories of artists and writers losing major projects because they didn’t have a contract or they signed the wrong deal. Creators don’t need to be told why they need a contract.

But when it comes to what kind of contract they need for a particular situation, the answers aren’t as clear. I specialize in writing and reviewing contracts for comic creators, so I know what’s required in different situations. To help comic creators on all levels get more confidence with the legal aspect of the industry, I’ve developed packages of custom contracts to help protect their IP and get their books published.

The Three (or Four) Comic Contract Packages

I normally have three types of clients:

The new creator who is creating their first book or the first book in a new series
The independent publisher who has plans to release books on an ongoing basis
The artist pursuing a creator driven deal with an established publisher

I created a collection of contracts to match the needs of each type of client.

The Comic Creator Package for the singular series or first time creator includes

A Collaboration Agreement to define the relationship among everyone who owns a piece of the book.
A Work for Hire Agreement for everyone who is getting a page rate but doesn’t own a piece of the book
Copyright filing of the Comic with the US Copyright Office to memorialize your ownership

The Independent Publisher Package for the ongoing creative team includes

Corporate formation for your company including an operating agreement and EIN number management (See the Benefits of Forming an LLC for Your Comic)
A Collaboration Agreement
A Work for Hire Agreement
Copyright filing of the Comic

The Creator Driven Comic Package for the artist licensing their book to an established publisher

Corporate formation including Operating Agreement and EIN Number Management
A Collaboration Agreement
A Publishing Agreement* defining the relationship between you and your publisher
Copyright filing of the Comic

* If your Publisher has their own contract and refuses to use yours (See Negotiating Power in Creative Contracts), I’ll review their contract for you and breakdown every paragraph so you understand every aspect of the deal.

No matter what kind of comic book creator you are, you need to protect your story, characters and the potential income that your creativity represents. If you’d like to contact to discuss the needs of your specific project, just send me an email and we can set something up.

Have fun.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A LICENSING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 AT gamalhennessy@gmail.com FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.