Public Domain Comic Books
Yi Pressimone
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Image was started thirty years ago by creators who knew their value. They struck out on their own and created a space where writers and artists could own their own work. It was incredibly important to me to wholly own Public Domain given its subject matter, so what better place than the company that allowed Matt and I to publish our weird smut book full of feelings.
There was never any doubt in my mind that Public Domain would see print. It\u2019s a comic about comics, so it had to exist in that single issue format, a format almost unchanged since the days when kids were buying Superman from newsstands. Sure, the paper is better, the printing is better, but it\u2019s still just a floppy periodical, paper held together by a couple of staples. It can be rolled up and shoved in your back pocket as you head to your favourite spot to get lost in the latest adventure. It\u2019s a COMIC BOOK.
And there was never any doubt as to where it would be published. Image Comics changed my life when Matt and I put out our first issue of Sex Criminals through them back in 2013. By that point Matt had worked for years at Marvel, so he knew the deal. He wrote, they owned. He got a paycheck, they got unlimited possibilities in perpetuity. So the rewards that came from a hit book that he co-owned with me was an incredible and well-earned reward for building a career at Marvel. And for me, holy shit what a stoke of beginner\u2019s luck being attached to the brilliant star that is Matthew J. Fraction.
I didn\u2019t publish Public Domain with a million variant covers. In fact, I just did one. I don\u2019t have any feelings one way or the other for creators who go the million covers route. I just knew that I wanted this to be a comic that was for reading, not collecting (plus, I clearly hate making money). I can\u2019t stop people from sending their copy to a company who inspects it and gives it a 9.8 and then places it between hard plastic, sealed away. But my wish is that you\u2019ll roll it up, put it in your back pocket, head to your favourite spot, and read a story that will hopefully entertain you as much as it did me during the process of making it.
And to all my subscribers here on this Substack who have already read it, and the issues after: thank you. You were my first readers and your words of encouragement mean more to me than you\u2019ll ever know.
For those who don\u2019t know, Chip headed up the ComiXology Originals program, which published Afterlift and is currently publishing The Allnighter. Chip is, by far, the best, most supportive person I\u2019ve met in comics. The guy looks out for creators and just LOVE COMICS. Much like with Image, Jason Loo and I own our books with ComiXology because Chip believes in creator rights and made a home for them both at ComiXology and at Dark Horse for the later print editions.
It was Chip\u2019s passion for comics and getting people to read them that secured us our Eisner win for Afterlift, I\u2019m sure of it. That Eisner is Chip\u2019s as much as it is any of us who worked on the book, but I\u2019m not going to give him my trophy are you crazy
Also, just so you know, ComiXology Originals is in excellent hands with Bryce Gold! Bryce has comics in his veins and I\u2019ve got no doubt that the line will continue to grow under him! Expect more Chip (Zdarsky) comics through ComiXology!!
A reminder that, in 2012, I \u201Crappelled\u201D down City Hall dressed as Spiderman. I put \u201Crappelled\u201D in quotes because the ledge at the top pushed the ropes out too far and made it hard to really do classic rappelling, so it was mostly just me slowly lowering myself without dying.
The production and distribution of this book were made possible by support from the Rockefeller, MacArthur and Ford Foundations. It is a project of Duke's Center for the Study of the Public Domain, which focuses on the delicate balance between intellectual property and the public domain - the realm of material that is free to use without permission or payment. To read about some of the Center's projects in areas ranging from health policy to music sampling, click here.
1) Practicality: 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. 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.
2) Philosophy: In the past decade or so, my thoughts on how to reform the trademark and copyright laws in this country (and others, I suppose) have undergone something of a radical transformation. The current laws are a mishmash of unethical backroom deals to keep trademarks and copyrights in the hands of large corporations, who can largely afford to buy the outcomes they want.
As of now, 15 September 2023, the comic book property called Fables, including all related Fables spin-offs and characters, is now in the public domain. What was once wholly owned by Bill Willingham is now owned by everyone, for all time. It\u2019s done, and as most experts will tell you, once done it cannot be undone. Take-backs are neither contemplated nor possible.
Since I can\u2019t afford to sue DC, to force them to live up to the letter and the spirit of our long-time agreements; since even winning such a suit would take ridiculous amounts of money out of my pocket and years out of my life (I\u2019m 67 years old, and don\u2019t have the years to spare), I\u2019ve decided to take a different approach, and fight them in a different arena, inspired by the principles of asymmetric warfare. The one thing in our contract the DC lawyers can\u2019t 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\u2019t 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.
In my template for radical reform of those laws I would like it if any IP is owned by its original creator for up to twenty years from the point of first publication, and then goes into the public domain for any and all to use. However, at any time before that twenty year span bleeds out, you the IP owner can sell it to another person or corporate entity, who can have exclusive use of it for up to a maximum of ten years. That\u2019s it. Then it cannot be resold. It goes into the public domain. So then, at the most, any intellectual property can be kept for exclusive use for up to about thirty years, and no longer, without exception.
Of course, if I\u2019m going to believe such radical ideas, what kind of hypocrite would I be if I didn\u2019t practice them? Fables has been my baby for about twenty years now. It\u2019s time to let it go. This is my first test of this process. If it works, and I see no legal reason why it won\u2019t, look for other properties to follow in the future. Since DC, or any other corporate entity, doesn\u2019t actually own the property, they don\u2019t get a say in this decision.
Too many things to list exhaustively, but here are some highlights: Throughout the years of my business relationship with DC, with Fables and with other intellectual properties, DC has always been in violation of their agreements with me. Usually it\u2019s in smaller matters, like forgetting to seek my opinion on artists for new stories, or for covers, or formats of new collections and such. In those times, when called on it, they automatically said, \u201CSorry, we overlooked you again. It just fell through the cracks.\u201D They use the \u201Cfell through the cracks\u201D line so often, and so reflexively, that I eventually had to bar them from using it ever again. They are often late reporting royalties, and often under-report said royalties, forcing me to go after them to pay the rest of what\u2019s owed.
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