Messages

I knew that- but it was a toss up between that or making the joke at your expense.

I really HAVE lost my edge...

I'll have to take your word for it, Wils- he disappears out of the chat whenever I show up...

:o

Gary, I keep telling you- I'm not fucking fat, alright?

RUINED, I SAY!

Oh my God- it's finally happened.  I've lost my edge.  I don't know who to laugh at or with.  My fearsome reign is over- I'm ruined!

RUINED!

Fister...  Wils will be all over that any second now...

;)

Heh- I'm just pleasantly surprised to find that nobody read anything into my wife's 'services' being 'charged out'.

Where is Wils, anyway?

;)

Fuck me- not fair, how, exactly?  Because it doesn't work out the way you want it to?  Welcome to the real world!

Any employer/employee dynamic is heavily biased in favour of the employer and always has been.  My wife's firm charge out her services to their clients at over ?300 per hour.  Do you really think she's bringing home over 12 grand a week?  Why should work for hire be any different?

Work for hire is a system operated by some companies.  You can either work for these companies or not- that's about the begining and end of the 'ins and outs'.  If you choose the former, it is not unfair to expect to be bound by the conditions you agree to.  If you wish to retain the rights to your work, negotiate for them in the first place or self publish.  Do not enter into a work for hire agreement.

"That's such a simplistics viewpoint of a complex matter"

Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, Mr Ponce- but as somebody actually working in this area, as opposed to somebody who thinks "maybe this is all a little bit unfair", I have to tell you that it really IS as simplistic as that.

The concept of work for hire goes something like this:

Write/draw this.  We'll pay you.  We'll retain the rights.

Why should that agreement be changed further down the line- just because the characters have done well and the comissioning company has (gasp!) made money on their investment?  Did the creators risk any of their own money in publishing untested material?  If the characters and concepts had tanked, do you think it would be fair for the company to ask for their money back from the creators?

Personally, I don't like work for hire and I avoid it as much as possible.  When I do agree to do it, I do it on the understanding that I won't be able to lay claim to my work later on.  I don't like it, but nobody forces me to do it and I am free to turn the work away.

I'm afraid it really is that simple.

To be clear, my beef today isn't with Pat Mills at all (although I can see it might be read that way)- it's with the people who keep bringing up arguments along the lines of "it's not fair".

It's a business arrangement- and if you agree to it, it's perfectly fair.

God- how many times will this one get trotted out?

"Just because one's rights are not available at a given moment in time, it doesn't follow that one shouldn't fight for those same rights at a later date"

Good point- I won't be signing any more contracts in future.  I mean, why bother?  In ten years time, the terms probably won't agree with the people I'm supplying artwork for right now.  They might decide that, actually, they don't like the deal anymore and that they want a better deal than was originally agreed- at my expense- or vice versa.

I think that Pat Mills, more so than most, WOULD have known the deal- the same way that I understood I'd only ever see a salary out of designs that went on to make an ex employer hundreds of thousands of pounds- possibly even millions by now.  Rather than bang on about it, or fight for my non existant rights, I accept the fact that I was being paid to do a job.

These days, I try not to sign away my rights unless I really have to.  When I DO have to, I have to decide whether or not I really want to take the job.  Nobody forces me to and I've got no comeback five, ten or twenty five years later if what I've created turns out to be the next Harry Potter.

That's just the way it is.

Don't be silly, Paul- you can't beat a bowl of Crunchy-Nut-Cornflakes.  ESPECIALLY with the cream of the milk.  Any fool knows that...

yummy yum yum.

Actually- two Weetabix, again with the cream of the milk, sugar and eaten before the whole thing descends into a gloopy mess.  That runs a pretty close second!

Matt

Having read the letter (which I thought to be more than a little harsh), I can understand Mills' fears- even if I think they're a little pathetic in the great scheme of things.

That said, the words "git" and "miserable" still spring to mind...

Oh and good luck to anybody who actually makes it past the "pending member" stage at Zarjaz- I've been in pending member limbo for yonks!

I'm sure that your wife is a lovely lady and is normally to be obeyed, whithout question, at every turn.

However...

On this occasion, I suggest that you ignore her COMPLETELY and sell the lot on Ebay.

Easy money.  Of course, your wife will see you as a pornographer- but there's a downside to everything...

Matt (ever helpful)

How old is dredd?  Old enough to buy fagz?