Announcement
on April 22, 2024
at 10:01 pm
Comics will be back when I have new comics for you. I currently have nothing upcoming scripted. At best it will be a few weeks. At worst it could be a few months.
UPDATE: I’ve closed the comments on this post now. Thank you for all your messages and suggestions. I am very touched by your support. It was especially nice to hear from a lot of people who don’t usually comment or haven’t for a while.
Sigh. My only hope is that this was a page predrawn on April 1
In all seriousness, that’s got to be really frustrating John, best wishes and hope you get back to enjoying drawing again soon.
I can’t beleive the Batman story happened without a hitch but Conan is what people are getting litigious over
This is such a massive bummer
I don’t know to what extent DC comics even noticed, but one key factor to remember is that Warner Bros is a big enough corporation that they are in the habit of caring about lawsuits that make their audience disgusted with them, and small IP holders generally don’t really care about whether people think they’re jerks or not. Although probably some do.
Gutted, as they say, for you John. This was great while it lasted.
So, not to be a wiseguy, but can’t you change the name of the character to something like, “Colin The Barbarian”, and call it a fair use parody?
It seems a darn shame to scrap all that fine work, just because a bunch of lame lawyers need to justify their retainers.
One difference is that Conan Properties International really only owns the trademark on Conan, not the copyright. They can lose the trademark if they don’t actively try to protect it (which isn’t the case with copyright). I don’t actually think anything John did here was threatening their trademark, but I’m not an expert, so I could be wrong.
Trace the ownership chain of CPI back up and you eventually arrive at Tencent, oddly enough.
Having worked in Tencent’s axis before, let’s just say I’m increasingly concerned myself about their increasingly exploitative and monolithic ownership of much of the world’s entertainment.
EEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH not that old chestnut
“Trademarks can be lost if not defended” doesn’t mean “all trademark issues must be C&D’d/sued/whatever”.
But you can threaten to sue anyone for any reason whatever, if you have the money and are a big enough asshole, even if you would lose in court. And lawyers get to charge for every one of these unfair actions. So that’s what *actually* happens.
I apologize if it sounded as if I was saying that “all trademark issues must be C&D’d/sued/whatever”- that certainly wasn’t what I meant. I simply meant that if you’re defending a trademark, and that’s really ALL you have, it does make some sense that you’d be more likely to err on the side of being overzealous about potential infringements. I agree with your second paragraph (even if it smacks a bit of knee-jerk anti-lawyer stuff in one sentence- yes, there are lawyers who are like that, but I’ve known a surprising number of lawyers in my life who were perfectly good people).
Reality is that trademarks and copyright rely a bit on friend-enemy distinctions. If you’re viewed as a friend they will overlook free use / take it easy on parody claims. But if you’re an enemy they will run through you with a fine tooth comb and claim ‘well if we don’t defend our claims…’
I don’t have any IP claims worth anything, but if I did, I’d let you guys use them for free 🙂
Conan Properties International does NOT own a copyright on Conan. They do own the trademark, and the rights to some Conan-related things, and they leverage that and their lawyers to effectively keep anyone else from doing anything with the character, even though he technically IS in the public domain. I’m not a legal expert, but I don’t believe you did anything that actually was legally wrong here. Unfortunately, their lawyers are bigger than your lawyers, and it would likely cost you a lot to prove your case.
Yes, it’s just not worth it. A real shame. But I loved making this story for you all and enjoyed drawing it more than almost anything I’ve done for years. I’m just sorry you won’t get to see the third part, because it really was quite something.
Please let us know how your community of readers can support you in this troubling time. You are an international treasure and you deserve better than this.
I buy your work when I can, and while I have avoided the Patreon simply because the nature of my own self-employment makes my income spotty and leads me to avoid monthly charges, I’d be more than happy to contribute to a Kickstarter for “whatever John Allison is going to do next”.
This ^^^
Just tape a single head shot of the Revd Penrose over the rest of the C*n*n drawings, fixed. A few speech bubble fixes and you is rolling!
Basically that is what is done with the rest of the characters, Lottie’s head on a thief. Glerm’s head on another pencil neck, etc. Change the title of the comics remaining to “Penrose the Contrarian”. Cease and desist this umbrella fold. Never heard of “Groo the Wanderer”?
The irony is that, by putting the kibosh on JA’s comic, CPI is actually hurting their “brand”, not protecting it. How would the presence of this strip hurt them? They had a major source of free promotion of the character in JA’s work, and they KILLED IT!
Greedy morons.
Ironically enough, it seems we have Funcom and Tencent to blame – current owners of Cabinet Entertainment, which owns CPI.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_Entertainment
Sounds like that company was doing stuff like this long before Tencent came into the picture.
I agree, but the way monolithic giant corporations run by soulless sociopaths are monopolizing entertainment and slaughtering creativity is indeed part of the problem.
idk how sociopathic you really need to be when you are so distant from anyone who is impacted. It’s really just a mistake to let any organization control things it is so distant from the effects of. People could claim that absentee landlords are sociopaths because of how such properties are managed but I’ve known plenty of people involved and at worst it’s just neglect plus over-reaction when something goes wrong when you weren’t looking. No doubt these companies control hundreds of these claims and have no reason to care that we even exist. That behavior comes across to us as sociopathic, but basic human psychology shows that there are a limited number of human beings that can even be human to you.
Actually, they might be the successor corporation to an entity that may own an American copyright or two, and an entity that is trying to create a European Union copyright or two. (*And, speaking as an American, when I see the phrase “European Union,” my tendency is to react badly and viscerally. This sort of nonsense is why.) It may, theoretically, be possible to boot strap that European Union filing into an American copyright via that other bad idea, American adherence to the Berne Convention back in the 1990’s.
Sources whereof I speak:
https://brian.carnell.com/articles/2009/the-copyright-status-of-robert-e-howards-works/
https://web.archive.org/web/20071025162157/http://www.robert-e-howard.org/AnotherThought4rerevised.html
Change his name and keep having fun. If you want another established PD character, you could go with Crom or Konar: https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Barbarian_Characters
The Conan folk in 2018 convinced a judge to create an injuction against a spanish guy making figurines for doing exactly that – it’s unclear _what_ exactly he would have been infringing, because the names no longer infringed the trademark and the copyright is dubious, but because the sculptor was a no-show there was no-one to argue that the copyright hadn’t even been renewed.
In any case, if you’ve already got a C&D and don’t want more hassle, doesn’t seem like the best advice.
Me, I’d want to refer them to the reply given in Arkell vs Pressdram
I don’t want to bring back bad memories but Frank Miller famously tweaked Batman into The Fixer for “Holy Terror”.
That may not be a good example…
This. I said the same thing on Patreon, but perhaps this is a perfect opportunity for the Savage Sword of Susan to pick up where the Blood Egg left off?
After all, previous attempts to capture the romance of a barbarian age while circumventing the intellectual property of Robert E. Howard and his estate literally constitute their own subgenre, and few of them have seemingly ever needed to work too hard at establishing that differentiation (e.g. The Beastmaster, The Blademaster, The Sword and the Sorcerer, The Norseman, The Seven Magnificent Gladiators, Hercules, Gor, Yor, The Barbarians, etc., etc., etc.).
Few if any ’80s bodybuilder-to-actor career pivots would have even been possible without this genre…time for a new chapter in the history of slightly questionable sword-and-sorcery emulation?
This. It would take an inordinate amount of rework, but why not redraw every scene in which forbidden barbarian appears with a weedy little Robert E. Howard look-alike substituted in. The rest are all original characters.
The Howard family are notorious for doing this kind of thing. Three different times they partnered with RPG designers to make a Conan RPG and each time they later withdrew cooperation and demanded that all unsold copies be destroyed. The most recent now runs at $125 on Ebay. Sigh
It’s not the Howard family. Robert E. Howard has no living heirs. It’s a company called Cabinet Entertainment that bought up whatever Conan rights and trademarks they could get about a decade ago and created a subsidiary called Conan Properties International just for those rights and trademarks. They have no connection at all to the Howard family.
In other words, they have no intentions of producing any actual creative Conan content. Instead, they exist to prey on the creativity of others? They should be forced to face the wrath (not to mention sword) of the one whose trademark they claim! Metaphorically speaking, of course. I would not condone actual non-comic violence on actual human beings… do you suppose they can prove they are actual human beings?
They currently have the license out to Titan Comics, which has a current Conan series going. That’s probably why they did this, but it still strikes me as petty and banal in the extreme. Certainly not the way to get me to buy their competing offering.
I’m very sorry, Mr. Allison. What an enormous frustration this must be. You put so much work into that comic. I hope someday you get a chance to share it again. It was a beautiful work. Best wishes and know your fans are still here with you.
Whoa-whoa-whoa!?! Idiotic. My sympathies. Is there no way your loyal fans can see the rest “out of the public eye”? I’ve loved your work for years…
Ok, being from Indiana, US, originally, how about changing the hero’s name to “Earl, The Hoosier” ?
Or, “Hoosier Barbarian”.
Like “who’s yer daddy”?
… a simple “search and replace” 🙂
I will hold out hope that this is a shitty prank from someone unaffiliated with the actual company because it’s weird to have this reaction rather than pitch a shift to an official collaboration
Ok, for language rhythm, “Earl-Ray the Hooserian”? 🙂
Awww… sorry you need to go through all that, but I enjoyed the ride while it lasted!
This SUUUUUUCKS
“Currently have nothing upcoming scripted” same day as the big NEMS update… maybe that’s destiny humming a tune?
While it’s four years away, I IMPLORE you that you do finish part 3 (and release everything publicly) in 2028, the year Conan becomes public domain in the USA. Then they won’t have a leg to stand on. You weren’t using the trademarked name, they don’t have any leg to make a case against you.
They only come at you because you were considered an easy mark, and they won’t even be able to make the case later on by going “oh but the Internet is international ground and he has to obey copyright laws in the US” come 2028.
I imagine you are not aware, but there’s a company called Ablaze publishing actual commercial Conan comic books under the name The Cimmerian. Like, for a few years now. Those comics are even being sold on Amazon.com, for the American public, where Conan isn’t even in the public domain yet![1]
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Cimmerian-Vols-1-4-Box-Set/dp/1684971624
Conan may actually be in the public domain in America, anyway. There doesn’t seem to be any current legal copyright holder for the Conan character. CPL owns the trademark 9which they can still hold for a PD character), not the copyright.
As John said, it’s not the legality, it’s the way the legal system works.
In both the United States and Britain, a corporation who can afford to bring an extended lawsuit with multiple appeals wins almost by default against any individual who isn’t wealthy. They don’t have to be right, have moral justification, or be serving the public better. They just have to be able to spend money on lawyers until you no longer can.
What appears to be claimed in the American trademark records is the word “Conan.” Note, there is no nonsense being tried with the American comedian and talk show host, Conan O’Brien, who has his own U.S. trademark application currently pending–the owners of the barbarian are remarkably silent with regard to him, though they appear to have litigated against two other individuals trying to use the name.
They’ll still have the trademark leg to stand on, actually. As long as trademarks are renewed and in use, they can be enforced in perpetuity. (So even though Mickey Mouse – at least, the “Steamboat Willie” version – is PD, if you try to use the name or a trademarked image of the Mouse, Disney CAN and WILL stomp you into the ground.)
Come 2028, “Conan” will still be trademarked, so the problem isn’t going away then.
As Alaric says, it’s a trademark issue, not a copyright one, and trademarks don’t have an expiration date. The question, essentially, is not “when can you make a story with Mickey Mouse in it” but rather “when can you open your own theme park and call it ‘Disneyland,'” and the answer is “basically, never.”
A lot of this could be litigated, yes: I don’t know that John would prevail as things stand (“Conan” right in the title is pretty iffy on trademark grounds) but certainly there is some set of changes that would be sufficient to win the case, with good enough lawyers.
But the issue here is not “can John change things up enough to let him win a drawn-out legal battle with a deep-pocketed corporation,” it’s whether the corporation is going to be able to drag him to court in the first place, and in this case they almost certainly can.
Wow, Conan’s rights are quite the rabbit hole. I think this is the correct reaction. IANYL.
I regret procrastinating checking Patreon for a download now.
For whatever it’s worth, I was quite enjoying it.
I’m sorry that it ended this way. After the abrupt end of Steeple, I was clinging to Conan for my comics fix! We’ll be here when you get back to us — feel free to post reruns to alleviate your drive to publish while you take whatever time you need to ponder and recuperate!
How sad. I’m very sorry. It was the first time in almost 30 years that I had any interest in Conan. So, thanks for that.
For anyone, like me, foolish enough not to download the pdf immediately: check your Patreon emails for the one from Apr 8 (or perhaps Apr 9 if you’re in Europe).
Good tip. Thanks.
Just did this and can confirm it works. Even though we didn’t get Part 3, that was a good ending! And who knows, maybe it will emerge one day.
I can only echo others, John, in saying f*!k these b&^*#@?s, so sorry you’ve been threatened like this, I had no interest in Conan in my life until you started this story but I enjoyed it greatly. Now I go back to having no interest in Conan, or perhaps, following this episode, a mild contempt.
Go out for some nice walks in the emerging spring, look at lambs, blossoms, fresh bright leaves etc. We’ll see you in a bit. You’re the best.
Bummer of a time to discover I haven’t been receiving Patreon emails since October.
Drop me an email, Adam.
Let’s say you put the finished work on a hard drive and sent it out for recycle. For some reason, a random worker picked it up and pulled the whole Conan story off it. It was then posted on an Onion site or similar.
Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Finally, the first rule about Conan Club is to not talk ( or post ) about Conan Club.
This is a sad day. Part 2 is some of your best work to date, I was so looking forward to part 3.
VERY disappointing to all of us, John, but it must be especially frustrating–not to mention infuriating–to you. The joy you must have had writing and drawing the strip was evident to readers, even to one as slow as me. To have that joy crushed by short-sighted idiots with lawyers is an offense to all of us.
Could you replace Conan with Su-Sann? (https://www.patreon.com/posts/savage-swords-101057744) Would it be too much of a pain, or is part of the exercise seeing Conan at work?
But…. but… SAVAGE SWORD OF SUSAN??
Given the likely villains of this piece, SSS is an appropriate acronym.
I would unironically buy Savage Sword of Susan on a hipster level just to say I did it.
By the way, the comic had NOT ceased to be amusing to me.
May everyone at Conan Properties International suffer from chronic, debilitating itches.
Indeed. My first reaction was ‘oh bugger!’ The buggeree being the CEO of CPI LLC, the buggerer a badly taxidermied hedgehog. I imagine that might cause a little itching at the very least.
John, this is heartbreaking. Do not feel compelled to rush to start drawing something new. Take care of yourself, and let us know how we can best help take care of you.
So sorry you have to deal with this shit. You were creating a version of Conan that honestly was better than anything I’ve seen before, including the movies. You poured more life and wit into this character than anything thing COI has done. Thank you for what you were able to share with us. To me, your work is canon.
SICK, SAD WORLD
Agreed, this is a horribly frustrating situation, but I think you made the right call in not fighting the Deep Pocket Lawyer Team. Hopefully once it all blows over we will see the Adventures of … Brian the Fur-Caped … who is on a familiar adventure to find the Crimson Football.
Till then, take your time, the Internet People will keep till you’ve had a break and time to regroup!
What a damn shame. I’m so sorry John. I don’t think I’ve ever loved a Conan story more than Conan and the Blood Egg and to see it suddenly axed for what just sounds like sheer pettiness. I hope we will see the conclusion in some future form. Until then, I eagerly await your next story no matter how l9ng it takes.
I think this is my favorite comment on the thread. Brevity is indeed the soul of wit.
Terrible news. I hope we get to see the rest of the story when Conan enters the public domain. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing your next project.
I am sorry to hear this. I was enjoying it a lot and was going to send a link to my brother when it was finished so he could read it all in one go.
“Cursed hayseed fighting juice!” still makes me giggle.
I’m sad to see it has come to this. Not surprised, though I was starting to think you might fly under the radar for long enough to see it through.
You’ll just have to hang on to the hope that the system will work out for you, 90 years after your death, when some faceless corporation sends a cease-and-desist to a harmless cartooninst making bootleg Giant Days comics for violating their trade mark, despite the characters being out of copyright.
Too late to change his name to Cohen the Barbarian?
Unfortunately, the managers of Pratchett’s estate are just as mercenary and lacking in a sense of humor as these fishwives.
I’d just suggest renaming him to O’Brien the Barbarian. Nobody would think to connect that name to Conan!
I think Conan O’Brien would find a comic with him as a barbarian hilarious. Do it. Tag him. Make Andy be the wizard.
“Yahweh! Am I and my exotic, expensive fur-lined hat never to know rest???”
Well, I guess I’lll have to get my Conan The Barbarian fix from all the other Conan The Barbarian stuff that the Conan The Barbarian PLC people have relentlessly put out over the last few years.
Suffice to say, the Conan The Barbarian lunch box; Conan The Barbarian mobile phone case; Conan the Barbarian cat bowls; Conan The Barbarian duvet, sheet & pillowcases; Conan The Barbarian car air freshener and Conan The Barbarian chopping board are all going to be put under the bed and never used again in protest.
Take THAT, Conan The Barbarian PLC!!!
Sorry to hear that. I know that Marvel have been in an odd situation with Conan, e.g. they published new comics (including “Savage Avengers”) for a few years, but none of those comics are on Marvel Unlimited, presumably due to licensing issues. If Marvel (and by implication Disney) don’t want to contest the claim, I don’t blame you for avoiding that fight!
Yup, all the old Conans are unavailable. The 70’s and 80’s Shang-Chis as well, as I believe they’ve run into IP rights trouble around Fu Manchu, and that’s why he’s been renamed in the reboot of the character.
Oh, that is a shame. As others have pointed out, I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong, but when big companies wield their bank accounts it’s difficult to fight back, even if you’re in the right.
I’m sorry, and I hope there’s some sort of serial number filing solution to be discovered, but if not I’m sure the next project will be ace.
What a pity; having been hugely skeptical about this I enjoyed it immensely, and thought you were clearly having fun. This, however, is no fun. See you whenever you have a story for us.
Thanks Chris. I really did have fun making it (and that was the point) so it feels important for that to be my takeaway.
I’m so sorry this happened. Stupid, greedy idiots.
For your loyal fans, could you at least tell us how the story ends? Substituting names as needed.
Dang, I remember hearing about the Conan idea during an interview, and I was dubious that I would enjoy it, but it has been a lot of fun, and it not being completed sucks
Well this is quite the party-pooping by those killjoys. Sorry to see them ruin what was an enjoyable journey for us and (I’m guessing) a fair bit of effort from you.
Damn. This is a crying shame – you were clearly having a great deal of fun writing it (and speaking for myself, I was having a great deal of fun reading it).
Not a mistake. It’s the world that’s stupid.
Unfortunate how it turned out, but it was fun while it lasted. Maybe you can finish it for yourself some time when it feels less sore, would be a shame for a good story to stay incomplete.
TOTAL AND COMPLETE BASTARDS
Time for an appearance of ‘Bronan’ the barbarian? An unrelated barbarian in a realm much like the hyborian age. It sucks that you’ve had to go through that John, I really enjoy your style and version, hope you can shake it off, but it is okay to feel down. I think we all understand that you need some time.
I am so sorry you’ve run up against this impediment. But the story can stand on its own merits even without the Conan name. Could you not rechristen your protagonist something like “Goo-barr The Warrior” (but better, obviously), give him a beard and maybe a belt, and repost?
Please rename it Ralph the Furrier or something and press on.
Boooo. BOOOOOOO. Boo to vulture lawyers roosting on a long-dead man’s work. I’m so sorry, John. But, you know, I hear there’s a fellow named, say, Cromag the Chthonian who has BROWN hair instead of black hair and GREEN eyes and is legally distinct…
So sorry John – we’ll all still be here, refreshing daily for your triumphal return to the world of comics on the world wide web.
Booooooo I hate Conan now. Get out of here Conan the LLC with your stupid IP claims. Boooooooooooo.
Also ILY John Allison.
FWIW: I’ve been enjoying this run and I’m not even a fan of the original Conan. Your style (not to mention the hidden gems in your pages that make it worth lingering on each frame just to see what’s hidden) is what makes this one enjoyable. Too bad about the legal leeches that get in the way of the true creatives.
Perhaps Terry Pratchett got away with it in Disc World because he called his character Cohen the Barbarian? And because this world’s arcane legalese can’t hold a candle, much less a law suit, in Disc World.
The snake-men were actually lawyers for Conan Properties International? I should have seen that coming!!
Big Frown. 🙁
(But I’m sure we would all love something like storyboards or sketches or whatever, with that one character removed if neccesary! ?? Possible?)
I can’t believe you got through Batman and X-Men unscathed and it was *Conan* of all things that came after you. Such a bummer. 🙁
Looking forward to whatever is next even if you have to take all summer to regroup, hang in there.
Aw man. Well, Conan becomes public domain in the US in 2028, so CPI’s gonna have a fun time losing a bunch of lawsuits after then.
Time for introduction of Blossom the Barbarian
could you just change certain details like maybe call him Bonan the Bimmerian or something and slip the surly bond of trademark?
I’m really depressed about this. However little Conan you’ve read, you’re one of only a handful of writers I feel have really gotten the character, and it was a lot of fun seeing how versions of your characters would interact with him. And I loved seeing Desmond Fishman in a setting that seemed like a more (un)natural fit for him. (It’s entirely possible that if you simply refused to stop CPI would back down- I very much doubt even they think they’d win in court on this- but I’m not knowledgeable enough to know for sure, so I’m not actually going to recommend this. If you could find a professional legal expert on intellectual property to give you some free or cheap advice…)
This feels incredibly unjust and for what it’s worth you have my full sympathies.
This has been excellent work and I hope pride in the accomplishment and our wonder at your creativity and effort can be felt through the very real disappointment of this high handed intrusion.
All I can say is “this sucks”, but you already know how hard it sucks I’m sure, so… yeah.
Still, this sucks.
“Marian the Librarian”? Once again, my condolences and sympathies… As you see/know you are widely appreciated for your wonderful work.
Crom!
John,
I really enjoyed what you wrote and drew, and had a great time with the blend of various characters with a known type of storyline and your amusing takes on it. Just really glad you started it and sorry we won’t see the finish, but mostly glad you put it in the world. Thanks!
How frustrating! Like Chris above, I was skeptical at the start and ended up greatly enjoying this story. I hope that you had a lot of fun creating it.
This is so sad! I was having so much fun reading this! It was also making me curious as to what the actual Conan stories were about, since I’ve never been particularly interested, until he got into the Allisonverse.
Maybe the new Destroy History story could be about a ragtag group of misfits going back in time to kick a bunch of copyright trolls in the nuts?
I’m so sorry this happened. It was such a fun story! I know this has sapped all the energy from you, but maybe just rename him Connor and carry on. If not, just know your readers love your work, and we’ll wait for whatever the muse brings to you.
Ah, what a bloody mess. I’m sorry this happened to you, John. And I *absolutely* get that legality aside this sort of attack completely takes any joy you had in the work away. Get some rest, do whatever you need to do to feel better. We’ll be here, ready to enjoy the hell out of whatever you do next.
(And given this is the comments section, probably also pick it to pieces like a murder of pedantic crows. But still. In fun.)
Should have called him Nanoc…
I’m so sorry, John. As much as this sucks for us, the readers, I can’t imagine what it must feel like for you, the creator.
I don’t suppose there’s any way that you can simply tell us what would have happened in the story?
Change the name to sleazy IP lawyer and keep running them.
John, this is such infuriating bullshit. I feel for you, and I wish there was a crusading law firm funded by some eccentric billionaire whose one goal in life was to take down trademark bullies, patent trolls and all of their ilk.
One of my fantasies is that if I ever somehow became a billionaire, I’d set up a legal firm which would a) give free advice/council on intellectual property issues, and b) defend those who couldn’t afford it otherwise against this sort of thing. It’s something I’ve dreamt of for the past 6 or 7 years, at least.
This is such a bummer. I’ve been really, really enjoying this, but protracted legal battles with fair-use hating copyright lords sucks the fun (and finances) out of everything.
Any way to salvage this with a little creative renaming and hair color swaps a la Thundarr the Barbarian? I’d love to see where this story ends.
Could you get around this by just continuing the comic as normal, except it’s now the adventures of Nanoc the Miccerian? If it was good enough for Arsene Lupin and “Herlock Sholmes”…
Just call him Onan the Cpiarian 😉
Is there any way some sort of licensing arrangement can be made? This is the first timr I’ve *ever* cared about a Conan story, and I would think that an arrangement with someone with your track record of success in both web and print would be attractive to their bean counters.
*time
Gonna make a thousand different AO3 Conan-fics in revenge.
OMEGAVERSE, even
Absolutely gutted by this news, but I am sure it doesn’t compare to your distress and disappointment. I was absolutely loving this adventure; not at all versed in Conan, but it was a delight. I hope you can hang on to the fun you had making it, and I look forward to what you come up with next, but on your own schedule.
Oh, that’s a shame. Damn. Sorry, John. I was really enjoying your take.
Just to add my voice to those of the other disappointed fans. These people have no idea what tits they make of themselves when pursuing such petty, vindictive campaigns.
But I don’t want to see roughs/storylines/butchered versions of the rest of the story – I want the real thing, even if it means waiting a few years until the heat dies down.
As I understand it, in most of the world it takes 70 years after the author has passed for their work to fall into the public domain but not in the USA where it is 95 years.
As to why should you care about how they do it in another country, it is because the UK and USA have, among many other countries, signed the “Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property” which includes authors’ copyright.
As you may have understood, this a complex situation now but I would say : Robert E. Howard having passed in 1936, keep those pages somewhere. You may want to upload them again in 7 years or so.
The “X amount of years after the author dies” thing isn’t an absolute, though. I don’t really understand how it all works, but apparently some older properties still use older copyright laws, and of course there has to be a legal copyright holder to keep a copyright. My understanding is that in the case of Conan, there IS currently no legal copyright holder, ANYWHERE, so the character IS technically in the public domain, regardless of where you are. CPI owns the trademark, not the copyright (though I believe they do currently own copyrights on at least some of the Robert E. Howard Conan stories that were published after Howard’s death). This situation has absolutely nothing to do with the copyright differences between the US and the UK.
No, oh no!
Sorry to hear that, John. It sucks. I am glad you’ve had fun making it though!
I hope good stuff comes your way soon, and I will read more comics when you’re ready to make them and release them into the world.
Crap luck, this was a fun comic and a great example of your work. As suggested above, judicious renaming of the character could be a solution, I’ve read plenty of “Brak the Barbarian” type stories over the years, and maybe written one or two myself, much shame, but if you’re just not into editing/renaming and continuing the saga (or are totally turned off by these legal shenanigans, understandable), then that is the world’s sad loss.
Ugh John, so sorry. I was looking forward to the party breaking into the Lair of the Fishmen.
It’s bloody Marvelman all over again. They don’t have any legal footing but they have the money to screw over everyone else.
I am so sorry for you (and us) John. I do hope you can rework the story to exclude the purportedly tradmarked/copyrighted content, unfortunately I expect that this wouldn’t satisfy the “holders” of the IP. Baring that path I hope to see this revived once the copyright has expired in the US in 2028.
Regardless of how long it takes I will remain in your Patreon corner breathlessly awaiting the kickoff of your next work.
Oh, and let me add: CPI can suck a big bag of Desmond filth.
Comments are closed.