An Introduction to The Creator’s Bill of Rights…I don’t have to tell you how comic book creators have been abused in our history. I don’t have to tell you about how certain editors or publishers stole ideas or creations from freelancers. I don’t have to tell you about the fight for the return of artwork to those who created the art. I don’t have to tell you about the right for creators to receive royalties to their work.
However, I do have to tell you that if you think all these issues were of the past, that things have changed, then you’re dead wrong.
Although things have gotten better for comic book creators, freelancers, artists, and writers, these same people continue to be taken advantage of by others.
Back in 1988, a group of comic book creators got together to see what they can do about protecting the rights of comic book creators. From these series of summits, specifically at Northampton, Massachusetts, The Creator’s Bill of Rights was created.
The participants of the Bill’s creation included Scott McCloud, Dave Sim, Gerhard, Steve Bissette, Rick Veitch, Larry Marder, Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Mark Martin, Steve Murphy, Michael Zulli, Eric Talbot, Ken Mitchroney, Michael Dooney, Steve Lavigne, Craig Farley, Jim Lawson and Ryan Brown. Please forgive me if I’ve forgotten to include anyone.
Following are the details to The Creator’s Bill of Rights that I swiped from
Scott McCloud’s website (thanks, Scott). Also, please note that Scott McCloud points out that: "This version of the Bill is my proposed "final draft" with annotations as it appeared in The Comics Journal. The original Summit version spoke of control of format and distribution rather than approval and included an additional article about labeling which had been a hot topic at the time, but should be adequately covered by format."
For the survival and health of comics, we recognize that no single system of commerce and no single type of agreement between creator and publisher can or should be instituted. However, the rights and dignity of creators everywhere are equally vital.
Our rights, as we perceive them to be and intend to preserve them, are:
1.The right to full ownership of what we fully create.
2.The right to full control over the creative execution of that which we fully own.
3.The right of approval over the reproduction and format of our creative property.
4.The right of approval over the methods by which our creative property is distributed.
5.The right to free movement of ourselves and our creative property to and from publishers.
6.The right to employ legal counsel in any and all business transactions.
7.The right to offer a proposal to more than one publisher at a time.
8.The right to prompt payment of a fair and equitable share of profits derived from all of our creative work.
9.The right to full and accurate accounting of any and all income and disbursements relative to our work.
10.The right to prompt and complete return of our artwork in its original condition.
11.The right to full control over the licensing of our creative property.
12.The right to promote and the right of approval over any and all promotion of ourselves and our creative property.Over the years, I would start thinking about The Creator's Bill of Rights and how I can, in some way, make people aware of it again. One idea I’ve had been mulling over for some time was to interview the Bill’s creators, get their insights and recollections of the Bill. I was curious to see what they thought of the Bill today, if it was still valid, and if not, how then could the Bill be tweaked for today’s comic book industry.
I had e-mailed Scott McCloud about The Creator's Bill of Rights on a couple of occasions. I had told Scott that I was interested in writing something about the Bill for Ya Can’t Erase Ink…. Finally, things went into full swing when I asked Dave Sim about the Bill. So, that got Dave thinking, and he suggested we try and write some sort of article about the Bill for Following Cerebus.
In March of 2005, I began interviewing the various participants who were involved in the making of The Creators Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, I was unable to contact or interview all of the participates, while others didn’t want to be interviewed.
The Creator’s Bill of Rights is a vital part of our industry, and should remain so. It’s still important to print comics because the reasons it was formed in the first place still remain. The comic book industry still hasn’t made the major changes that impede on the rights of creators.
Even though Online Comics creators have ownership and control of their comics, they should remain aware of the Bill and of their inherent rights as creators. This is even more important when Online Comics creators move to put their comics into print. Also, keep in mind, that at some point, Online Comics will become profitable. At this time, I believe that the large comic book publishers will become more interested in Online Comics and their creators. So it’s important that these creators are fully aware of their rights so that that the abuses done to creators in the past do not happen to them.
The Creator’s Bill of Rights is such a heavy and detailed topic. All it’s points can not be fully covered here. I hope that the Bill will continue to be discussed by comic book creators, especially those who participated in it’s creation. Only by continued discussion can the Bill’s impact be significant in the comics industry.