[Trunks]

I should probably clear up the water.

So, Trunks, knowing you work on Archie Sonic, I ask: Any insight you can offer? Or has it already been said amidst our bitching?

I don't work for Archie. I work for one of its colorists. He subcontracts to me, and I have no contact nor credit for any work that I do, and that's that.

Anything I say is entirely of my own opinion and has no basis in fact.

I'm sure it'll amount to nothing in the end, but I will be very, very upset if this affects the way I pay my bills, though.

[Qtheman]

Let me get this straight. He's raging at Archie over character use because he was fired five years before this cropped up?

Yeah... what.

[Erinaceus]

The idea of lawyers debating the originality of Scourge the Hedgehog makes me grin from ear to ear. Oh, how silly they will sound.

Should this go to trial, that is.

But perhaps Archie should just dodge this issue by pulling a "One More Day", that is, a complete continuity reboot.

Because, to be quite honest, and I say this as a longtime Archie fan, I think the series could use one.

[Chaos Knux]

I should probably clear up the water.

So, Trunks, knowing you work on Archie Sonic, I ask: Any insight you can offer? Or has it already been said amidst our bitching?

I don't work for Archie. I work for one of its colorists. He subcontracts to me, and I have no contact nor credit for any work that I do, and that's that.

Ah, my misunderstanding. I knew you'd worked ON them from that computer screen brag you did a while back. I did not realize you were not on their top-layer payroll.

[Mr. Pictures]

I'm really curious, considering Ken got this far, did he find some kind of a loophole in order to actually claim copyright to all his works? Maybe he only thought Sega owned everything he did, that is until Sonic Chronicles came about and he began to question the ownership of his works? Instead of an outright usage of his characters and concepts, Sega went ahead and changed some of it, maybe to avoid an earlier beginning to this kind of situation, in hopes of avoiding it altogether.

This post has been edited by Mr. Pictures: 08 July 2010 - 02:41 AM

[Sik]

Er, I'll just skip all this and say that probably Archie requested all the copyrights when he had signed his contract, so he can forget about it. Unless I missed something for skipping all these pages...

Well it looks like anyone with the name of Ken is a retard. This is truly copyrights as you imagined it.

What about the dude who made the graphics engine for Duke Nukem 3D? He's called Ken =|

[0r4ng3]

Penders was a freelancer. If he didn't have a contract, or did but it didn't have a clause assigning the intellectual property rights back to Archie, then everything he created while working under these conditions belongs to him. Since Penders now says that he has copyrighted his stuff now, Archie will have to either pay him royalties to continue using them or have to stop using them altogether. Does anyone know the specifics of his contract?

If he's bold enough to make this kind of comments, then that means this is probably the case. Ian said there is no problem here, but I really can't see how, unless Penders is bluffing. He's an arsehole and an attention whore, so why not. Then again Ian is known to be quite naive and youngin the industry, he might not be grasping the full consequences of this.

Sonic Chronicles isn't an issue here however. At the very best, the Dark Brotherhood and Shade are simple homages and cannot be used as copyright infringement.

This is the law in my country though. Things might be different in the US.

[Phos]

This whole business made my day, all the stupid Archie bullshit might end up being owned by some stupid douche who can't do anything with it, and or Ken makes himself so unemployable that I never have to hear about him again.

[Mr. Pictures]

Then again Ian is known to be quite naive and youngin the industry, he might not be grasping the full consequences of this.

I don't think Ian's word is law in this matter. He's their writer and nothing else. He was just telling everyone what the higher ups told him. They could have told him such to mask the drama and quiet down the fans while things get sorted out. I think Ian was surprised to find out that he hadn't been informed about the situation, not that they had plans to tell him, it could be dangerous from a business standpoint.

This post has been edited by Mr. Pictures: 08 July 2010 - 04:29 AM

[Solaris Paradox]

If Ken Penders is really upset by what he sees as "derivative work" in Dark Brotherhood, I have to wonder how he feels about his own derivative work in Julie-Su and Rob 'o the Hedge.

This post has been edited by Solaris Paradox: 08 July 2010 - 06:22 AM

[Scartillery]

If Ken Penders is really upset by what he sees as "derivative work" in Dark Brotherhood, I have to wonder how he feels about his own derivative work in Julie-Su and Rob 'o the Hedge.

Its called hypocrisy.
Still, I never got into any of the Sonic-based comics, but what this guy is trying to do, is pretty childish.
He wants money for stuff he did years ago, and may not even techincally own.
Even if he wins, the comic may get cancelled and he'll receive a few royalties from Chronicals, if that.
Nobody else is going to employ him for fear of him attempting to do the same with them.

He should just move on. In the end, it would probably be better for him.

This post has been edited by Scartillery: 08 July 2010 - 06:36 AM

[Mr. Pictures]

I don't think Penders will receive any royalties from Chronicles, but I think Chronicles is what sparked the thought about who owned the rights to what. He might take them to court over that too, but I don't think he'll win. Sega decided to base some of Chronicle's story on Pender's echidna mythos from the comic book series, but many fans saw it as homage, considering the elements weren't directly adapted. Although if they really did own everything, they were totally within their rights to reuse his ideas without any consequence, even if it meant repurposing them for a game. Maybe he thought if Sega did own his creations they should have just stuck with them in the game, instead of basing them off his work? Penders may have seen it as Sega trying to protect themselves, as the rights to ownership may have not been very clear in the first place. This is of course, entirely my speculation.

So if Ken has successfully copy written most of his creations from his time on the book, I suspect he and his lawyer have already gone through Archie and Sega's contracts and isn't breaking any of their policies? Otherwise, I don't think it would have been possible for him to go through with all of this. I'm sure it's lengthy process and has to be looked over by a bunch of people.

This post has been edited by Mr. Pictures: 08 July 2010 - 07:13 AM

[Metal Knuckles]

I like my girlfriend's take on the Archie Comics:

*said comic*

Kinda ironic given the thread is about comic ownership, but your girlfriend stole that entire bit from LittleKuriboh.

[Lobotomy]

Yeah, this is pretty much nothing new. He's been a douche since he started working on Archie. It is hilarious that he claims everything his own, though.

This post has been edited by Lobotomy: 08 July 2010 - 07:40 AM

[Friend of Sonic]

I'd like to say at this time that what I have undertaken was not done with malice or in haste. I am simply looking out for the long-term interests of my family. That said, I knew many fans might be hurt or bewildered by my actions, but once all the circumstances that brought me to this point are known, I'm certain many will agree I had no choice but to protect my interests. In fact, I never expected to find myself in this position, yet here I am.

There will be much misinformation tossed out to confuse and obfuscate the issues at hand. You will not get that from me because I have no intention of being forthcoming with details beyond the obvious.

In the meantime, I will be in San Diego attending Comic-Con while promoting my film THE REPUBLIC as well as the forthcoming BROTHERHOOD OF THE GUARDIANS: LOCKE graphic novel. I will also be selling a special limited edition poster available only at Comic-Con featuring Julie-Su, Lara-Su, Lien-Da and the rest of the clan from the Dark Legion. My attorney Michael Lovitz will also be in attendance, providing a seminar on Copyrights and related matter. Please note that none of my actions infringe on SEGA's or Archie's rights with regards to producing the SONIC and SONIC UNIVERSE series. I also wouldn't be undertaking what I plan if I weren't within my legal rights.

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