Author Neil Gaiman Wins Suit Over Spawn Characters
By SCOTT BAUER - Associated Press
Aug 04, 2010
MADISON, Wisconsin - "Coraline" and "Stardust" author Neil Gaiman is owed royalties for three more characters that appeared in artist Todd McFarlane's classic Spawn comic book series, a federal court judge has ruled.
U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb ruled last week that the demon Dark Ages Spawn and two scantily clad female angels, Domina and Tiffany, were derived from characters Gaiman created. Spawn tells the story of a murdered CIA agent who becomes a demon and is hunted by angels.
A jury found eight years ago that Gaiman was due money for being a co-copyright holder for three other characters that appeared in the comic series - Medieval Spawn and Angela as well as a character named Cogliostro, a one-time Spawn ally. Neither side has agreed to how much is owed.
Gaiman testified in June that he believed Dark Ages Spawn was essentially a copy of Medieval Spawn, a character he created in the ninth issue of the Spawn series in 1993. He had been invited by McFarlane to do an issue. Gaiman also said the angels known as Domina and Tiffany were copies of the red-haired Angela, a character who also debuted in Spawn No. 9.
Crabb agreed, saying all three characters were substantially similar to the ones Gaiman created.
"Certainly they are similar enough to be infringing if they had been produced and sold by someone other than the copyright owners," she wrote. Crabb ordered McFarlane to tell Gaiman by Sept. 1 how much money had been earned through the use of the characters in posters, trading cards, clothing, action figures, comic books and anything else where they appeared.
Gaiman's attorney Allen Arntsen said he hoped that a final accounting of how much Gaiman is owed will be done by the end of the year.
"This has been drawn out," Arntsen said. "We're looking forward to bringing it to a resolution."
McFarlane's attorney Alex Grimsley did not immediately return a message seeking comment Monday.
Gaiman commented on the ruling in a Friday blog entry, saying he wants to "forget this forever."
"I wish I took some kind of joy in this, but I don't," Gaiman wrote. "At this point all I hope is that Todd can do an accounting for all the comics I wrote for which he paid no royalties, and the rest of it; and that he'll settle up and I will make some comics charities very happy."
McFarlane created Spawn in 1992 for a startup comic book company, Image Comics. Although it isn't as popular as Batman or Spider-Man, the series has been fairly successful with action figures, an Emmy-winning HBO series and a 1997 movie that grossed $87 million worldwide.
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