Bill Willingham releases Fables into the public domain as revenge against DC continuously screwing him over

As per his substack post. Apparently there isn't a dedicated Fables thread, so...

Long story short, while he can't publish anything Fables-related through anyone other than DC unless they agree to terminate their contract, Fables is now in the public domain for anyone else to do anything with. This is mostly due to DC trying to jerk him around ever since the original heads of Vertigo left, and even wrangle the rights from him entirely at one point.

He also notes that he's been considering doing this as part of his personal philosophy on copyright anyway, and he felt it would be hypocritical if he didn't release it into the public domain after 20 years.

But yeah, this is one hell of a power move. I do expect there's gonna be some legal kerfuffling over this, since this is possibly the most high-profile instance of an author putting their work out into the public domain of their own volition, and considering he's still in a contract with DC, though he's obviously made sure he's fully within his rights to do this.

Edited by Cronosonic on Sep 15th 2023 at 1:45:57 AM

Wow.

You mean I can do stories with Snow White and Cinderella now!?

[Yes, I recognize the importance of this but it's an odd series to do this with]

Hey, at least's he's not being a hypocrite like Disney.

Hold up, isn't Willingham's track record as a writer a bit spotty? I know he wrote a crossover between Batman and Bigby Wolf and...it didn't have the most flattering take on Robin.

That aside, I honestly didn't know this was a conceivable move. Like, imagine if Alan Moore pulled this on Watchmen.

Willingham is apparently snobbish in RL and talks over fans a lot while mansplaining to female ones.

Oh and he has...opinions on Israel.

But the issue is that Willingham apparently got a unique contract with FABLES that made him the actual owner despite DC publishing it. DC's subsequent editors have been furious over this and tried to get the rights from him ever since.

Conversations generally going:

"Hey, let's do a new Fables series."

"Sure. Sign right here that says you're giving up all rights to Fables."

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Sep 14th 2023 at 9:35:37 AM

There is a fables thread, here it is.

It just hasn't been used since 2014.

Thanks, guess that partly explains why I couldn't find it. But I think this is possibly the first print comics creator to actually put their material into the public domain, so it's still probably noteworthy enough to get its own thread.

Even if the product doesn't interest me, I love the idea of creators releasing their work into the public domain. Go him!

I remember when my dad told me about a software company that made some kind of app - I forget what it is, maybe DVD ripping or something when that was new - and they were told that what they were making was illegal. So they decided screw it, and made it free.

Or a video game company that did something similar when an online game of theirs failed to sell. Give it away for free (this was in the pre-microtransaction era) and let people do whatever.

The problem is that most creators don't have the right to release their works into the public domain. It's the company that controls most of that sort of thing.

Well, the creators of really big things, I mean. No Batman creator could do this, but Brandon Sanderson could if he really felt like it.

Edited by Discar on Sep 15th 2023 at 6:19:23 AM

So, a few points: does he have the right to do it? If he owns the right to the Fables IP, he can. Where it gets tricky is the publishing rights. Willingham's contract ensures he can't do anything with DC, but nobody else is bound by that.

It's not "oh I can write with Snow White and Cinderella now?!" It's these very specific iterations of those characters, Bigby Wolf, Mr. Dark, Jack of fables, and so on and so forth.

Moore doesn't have the rights to do this. If he did, bet your bottom dollar he'd have done it like 30 years ago.

Edited by Lightysnake on Sep 15th 2023 at 7:55:01 AM

Oh yeah,releasing Fables into public domain won't be without ramifications from DC,but like since they're dicking them its worth it

So basically, he's out of line, but he's right?

Funny you say that, because here comes ramifications from DC! They posted an official statement saying "no, Fables is not in the public domain."

Edited by TargetmasterJoe on Sep 15th 2023 at 4:13:01 AM

“ But the issue is that Willingham apparently got a unique contract with FABLES that made him the actual owner despite DC publishing it.”

His contract would probably be about the same as other Vertigo creators doing non-DCU series around when Fables began, it just stands out because Fables is about the only example of those where new material is still being produced.

Willingham said he didn't want a legal fight, but it looks like he'll get one anyway. Hopefully some sympathetic benefactor assists with legal fees and counsel.

I mean, DC is outright lying here so Bill has to fight it now.

DC might be kinda freaked out here

Warner Brothers would send down the hammer even if DC didn't.

They're in a strike busting mood.

> DC might be kinda freaked out here

caught off guard and they're pissed about it

I have a feeling they're going go into "Hulk smash puny human!" and aren't going to be pretty.

I suspect it being timed to the current strike is reasonable.

But Bill has burned his bridges with DC here.

He's burned it immensely. the fact is, though, DC might own the content of the books, but the IP itself...more questionable how that falls. Depends on the contracts.

It's also further murkier by the fact that Fables is based on public domain characters.

You can copyright blond space Thor but not red-haired god Thor to distill it to its essence.

And Bill's contract with DC was not the usual one.

On the one hand, it's kinda cool to have something released into the public domain early. Especially when it pisses off a major corporation.

On the other hand, how generous of him to release into the public domain characters who are . . . based on shit in the public domain.

On a freakish third hand, this in no way diminishes what an absolute asshole Willingham himself is. Seriously, fuck that dude.

In (slightly) his defense, it's not like he could release anything ELSE into the public domain. He didn't have a choice between releasing Batman and releasing Fables; it was Fables or nothing.

Yeah, he's still not exactly a good person himself, but we can't blame him for failing to strike a bigger blow.

It's not so freakish when the third hand is mine.

Yeah, this is the one thing that's stopping me from getting on the "screw DC" train. I'm all for creator's rights, but siding with a known racist and misogynist feels wrong in my heart.

Stopped clocks and all that.