I took my comic off drunk duck…maybe you should too? I am disgusted by this, everyone read this— http://www.platinumstudios.com/news/article.php?article=138


*tap tap tap* Are you done reading? Ok. Were you scared too? For those of you too impatient to read, heres the synopsys. You may have to review what rights we own on the comic in Drunk Duck. It got bought by Platinum Studios last month (but only announced this morning). They plan to take popular comics and make merchandise - only instead of it being profitable for the comic creators, they're basically telling us to bend over and take it. it's a 90/10 split, with 10 going to them, but after cost… so 10 percent of PURE PROFIT.

Do you want your comic to remain YOUR PROPERTY? Then take it off Drunk Duck. Find another hosting company if you want. But I'm not that trusting. As for me and Pomm, we're going to make our own website to host our own comic on so something like this underhanded dirty work can't happen to us.

Personally, I love Drunk Duck and all the comics on it. But I think they arin't going to get the message unless a significant amount of people complain, or leave. If you don't care what happens to your comic then by all means. Stay. I however, plan on marketing Pink Rutabaga some day as my own property and don't want some profit stealing company to do it for me.

Man…I hope Drunk Duck doesn't erase this topic…

Man…I hope Drunk Duck doesn't erase this topic…

Why would we? There are like 5 OTHER THREADS talking about the same thing.

Too bad you can't be bothered to read responses over there. :roll:

If you haven't signed an agreement about merchandising your comic, then this won't even affect you.

Now, GoA did. It affects us. It was a whole 23 page option agreement. If you haven't signed anything to this affect (and no, the registration agreement does not count), then there is nothing you should be concerned about. Oh, and, by the way, The comic GoA is still property of Chuck, not PS. It's a stipulation in the contract that PS put in.

And the 90/10 is actually pretty good, when you consider PS will be putting up the cash for production, advertising, and shipping. You can go to cafe press and TRY to sell a T-SHIRT for $22.00. Yeah, good luck with that. Or do it on your own and worry about shipping and handling costs. Been down that road, too.
Considering that PS can get to at LEAST 90% more people, I'd say you break more than even, anyway.

But if you'd like to leave, that's your call.

.: SpANG! :.

ArtPhr33k, you should go reading deviantArt's fine print, because your art's in way more danger there than it is on Drunk Duck. And it's probably pretty safe even on DA. But will you take your art down from DeviantArt based on the fact that their legal fine print gives them the right to make prints and profit from your art? No, because that's a provisionary clause in case you decide to make prints. And how much will you make? The profit ratio's probably about 90:10.

These other guys explained it, and it's been explained in other threads. I don't feel the least bit worried about the safety of my comic. It was safe before, and nothing will change until they approach me to work out a deal.

Hawk
ArtPhr33k, you should go reading deviantArt's fine print, because your art's in way more danger there than it is on Drunk Duck. And it's probably pretty safe even on DA. But will you take your art down from DeviantArt based on the fact that their legal fine print gives them the right to make prints and profit from your art? No, because that's a provisionary clause in case you decide to make prints. And how much will you make? The profit ratio's probably about 90:10.

These other guys explained it, and it's been explained in other threads. I don't feel the least bit worried about the safety of my comic. It was safe before, and nothing will change until they approach me to work out a deal.

On DA you get 10% for sure, unless you buy a special account, which is an extra $20 or so, then you get 50%.

So what you're saying is that you have to use your cut of the money to cover the costs of the merchandise while Platinum make pure profit?

You have to spend money to make money. It's how businesses (even Platinum Studios) work.

Also, the 90/10 split doesn't seem so bad. That large chunk of the money would help you break even, or even make a tidy little profit.

The only thing you have to worry about is if DrunkDuck will go all DeviantART and start having two tiers of service, e.g, one for those who pay for their subscription and those who don't pay at all.

Besides, it's not like everybody will go mad and start selling merchandise of their comics ASAP.

Also, it's not like PS is FORCING you to sell merchandise. You don't have to sell anything if you don't want to. :)

That's a better ratio than you can usually get out of Cafe Press. So if they make some quality stuff (unlike Cafe Press), it could be pretty cool.

ArtPhr33k
Man…I hope Drunk Duck doesn't erase this topic…

We won't delete it, but there are several threads about this already.

I did change the title of your post from Do we really own the rights to our comics? No. to Do we really own the rights to our comics?

The reason is because the answer is yes. The fact that you pulled your art of DD and the lawyers aren't chasing you is proof of that, but I know some people get paranoid about stuff like that.

The 90/10 deal is with the artist's consent, so please try to relax.

ArtPhr33k
(but only announced this morning)

Not really.

Yes, thank you, ArtPhreek, for overreacting and removing a comic I really enjoyed for reasons that don't make any goddamn sense. The rates aren't the best in the world, but for a new series it's still a big gamble on their part. Y'know, aside from the fact that the entire process is completely voluntary and, if you don't like it, you can just sell stuff on your own.

OutofLine
The only thing you have to worry about is if DrunkDuck will go all DeviantART and start having two tiers of service, e.g, one for those who pay for their subscription and those who don't pay at all.

Lol, that used to exist, and it wasn't all that bad.

From the new FAQ:

Q: Do I still own the rights to my comic once I upload it to DrunkDuck?

A: YES YOU DO. YES. One more time just to be clear: Yes! Drunk Duck offers free hosting, and a community for webcomics. We DO NOT own any rights to YOUR comics. Federal copyright law is VERY CLEAR on this and is designed to protect the creator. Anybody telling you differently is uninformed or lying. On the other hand, if somebody offers you a contract, such as a purchase agreement or option agreement, be it Platinum Studios or Marvel or Simon & Shuster, you should read it carefully, take it to your attorney, and get a clear understanding of what rights you might be giving up once you sign a contract and how much money you may be getting in return. But the choice will always be yours.

Answers that clear enough.

What the fuck? We got new admins too? Wasn't Skool, Ronson, Spang, BK, and Volte enough?

Rich
What the fuck? We got new admins too? Wasn't Skool, Ronson, Spang, BK, and Volte enough?

Oh no, not admins! When will the madness cease!!?? What Hell hath thou brought upon this fair Duck, squires!

…

I hope Rich was joking too.

Yes, I was joking on that one. I'm sure whatever admins Platinum forces on us all won't be assholes. After all, there is no faster way to fuck a community than to put assholes in charge.

I have an Idea, MAKE YOUR OWN SITE TO HOST YOUR COMICS, theres freewebs (alot of people here are gifted with html so they can give that a shot) or moon fruit, go daddy, ECT.



actually thats not a bad Idea, i might even give it a shot.

The thing is that some of us can't code a site to save our lives.

Drunkduck is better than having your own site if you aren't already famous full stop, it has other people who are interested in your medium just floating around, there's not a better place to get exposure, plus it's free. DD>other website.

Thanks Rich.

Mojo
Thanks Rich.

Your plenty welcome. I have a strong feeling you'll like it here…

This is not helping my paranoia.

I only hope any changes aim for the best, there are a bunch of things i love about both the forums and the site and if any of those things change i'll go nuts!

Honest, my mind has been very fragile as of late.

Well, it seems some technical aspects of the forum are going to be a bit wonky for the time being, but I doubt any mandatory changes are going to be made on the comic hosting end. Hell, even the “homepage” option is completely optional.

Red Slayer
This is not helping my paranoia.

I only hope any changes aim for the best, there are a bunch of things i love about both the forums and the site and if any of those things change i'll go nuts!

Honest, my mind has been very fragile as of late.

I know you are serious but your avatar makes that post seem kinda funny. :)

skoolmunkee

Red Slayer
This is not helping my paranoia.

I only hope any changes aim for the best, there are a bunch of things i love about both the forums and the site and if any of those things change i'll go nuts!

Honest, my mind has been very fragile as of late.

I know you are serious but your avatar makes that post seem kinda funny. :)

Colbert commands IT!

Because I'm bored and feel like stirring shit up, here's the copywrite thingy in the privacy policy.

Someone
All materials contained in this website (“Website Materials”) including comic strips, books, art, illustrations, images, or text are trademarks or copyrighted materials owned and controlled by Platinum Studios, LLC or its subsidiaries, affiliated entities and/or third-party licensors and/or individual creators, and are protected by applicable trademark and/or copyright law

It states that everything here is owned by Platinum OR individual creators. Therefore it means that Platinum DOESN'T own everything here.

And from my experience with legal documents (Trust me, despite my rather immature actions, I have a lot), this is pretty sound with virtually no real loopholes I can see. Hell, it almost seems scripted to keep outside sources from stealing stuff. I think we can rest calmly for the time being.

I'd like to add that that line existed since Platinum came in in July. It wasn't a change or an add-on because of the worries. The FAQ was changed to allay fears.

Okay, am I reading this right. 90/10 split and WE get 90%? And someone is complaining?

Have any of you self published? That's 60/40, and YOU get the 40, after paying for the printing, you MAY break even.

It sounds lovely to me…

Barry

phinmagic
Okay, am I reading this right. 90/10 split and WE get 90%? And someone is complaining?

Have any of you self published? That's 60/40, and YOU get the 40, after paying for the printing, you MAY break even.

It sounds lovely to me…

Barry

Sorry, you aren't reading that right :) It WOULD have been 90/10, 10 for the creators. However, that was a misquote on the NYTimes part. Platinum hasn't figured out what merchandising deals they will have and percentages may work out differently. The 90/10 thing was probably an offhand comment or unrelated information that the NYT reported incorrectly (or probably just shouldn't have included). This will hopefully be cleared up more fully by someone from Platinum, soon.

The things you have to remember with newspaper articles is that:

a. They get stuff wrong all the time.

b. They write to appeal to the most people.

c. If the writer doesn't understand the subject (webcomics, in this case), it will show in his article. Which this one did in spades.

All this stuff about “stealing a comic” is nonsense. You have a copyright notice and it's yours unless you sign an agreement ststing otherwise. Only you can draw it, write it, whatever. The rest is so much stuff. I see garfield reusing Peanuts gags all the time. I see other strips ripping off Watterson. You know what? They can TRY, but at best they make a little shadow puppet.
Don't worry. Don't be happy, either. Just the best work you can all the time and you'll be fine.

jc

SpANG
Now, GoA did. It affects us. It was a whole 23 page option agreement. If you haven't signed anything to this affect (and no, the registration agreement does not count), then there is nothing you should be concerned about. Oh, and, by the way, The comic GoA is still property of Chuck, not PS. It's a stipulation in the contract that PS put in.

i know it's a bump, but is it possible to see a blank copy of the merchandising agreement for research purposes? a friend of mine is concerned that the TOS is too vague to protect our rights, and she wants to see the language Platinum is using to confirm our rights as creators.

i understand what everyone here has said so far, that we do still own our rights, but forums that are editable do not equal legal agreements.

if a copy is not releasable, why not?

Corvin