BLACK TOWER COMICS & BOOKS: The Cult Of Personality or Use Famous People With No Contract And Suffer The Consequences!

Sunday 12 June 2011

The Cult Of Personality or Use Famous People With No Contract And Suffer The Consequences!

I mentioned previously that Amalgamated Press/Fleetway/IPC (now IPC Media) had over the years infringed personal copyright of TV, Radio and film stars not just from the UK but also the United States.

Terry Wakefield, for instance, was drawing Laurel and Hardy for Film Fun when they did a tour of the UK. Being a big fan, Terry asked the bosses if he could get a ticket and be introduced to them? “NO!” was the answer and it was pointed out that if they knew their likenesses were being used they might ask for payment!

Film-Fun - Character

This sort of thing happened time and again. Just a minute sample of those whose likenesses and names were used without permission (some lawyer could make a fortune here) are:

Arthur Askey
Tommy Trinder
Cardew Robinson
Stinker Murdoch
Jack Warner
Frankie Howard
Benny Hill
Red Skelton
Danny Kaye
Laurel & Hardy
Buster Keaton
Buster Crabbe
Ken Dodd
Norman Wisdom
Ben Turpin
Harold Lloyd
Tyrone Power
Orson Welles
George Formby
Sid Field
Abbott & Costello
Joe E. Brown
Tommy Cooper
Dean Martin
Jerry Lewis
And so on.

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It is a VERY long list andthe policy was always that if a star of TV, cinema or radio was a huge hit then he/she were ripe for exploiting in a comic strip –it pulled in the pennies.

In this age of lawsuits for copyright infringements past and present IPC Media really does need to realise that if it claims rights to EVERYTHING (remember, there were no contracts to sign away rights and when the company was sold over and over no new contracts were written between companies/new owners and the creators) then it must accept that it is open to legal action from the families of creators and the families of former stars who were used in this way.

I think recent examples involving DC Comics shows that even as one of the “big boys” you can’t escape these things. IPC Media tend to think not responding to questions keeps them out of trouble while they get “heavy” with so called “infringers” of ‘their’ copyright. One day, one of these people is going to seriously bite IPCs ass…and my huge dossier is ready for use.

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Black Tower Super Heroes 4

the fourth issue of BTSH is here and it is so crammed full of eye boggling action that we had to use adamantium staples to keep it all together! Kotar, Sabuta along with Tarot and Lady Silvana face the werewolf while the Zero Heroes are in a church surrounded by zombies and what happens to "the other guy" at the end...I'm asking -what happened? Jack finds that he could have had a fatal dose, while The Trial continues and the mystery deepens. There is more -much much more! Blue Saviour is the cover star and a tribute to creator David A. Johnson who brightened up Bath comic marts with his Blue Saviour, Madame Mystery and Enigma comics! COMICS ARE FUN!

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UFO CONTACT

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Strange & Mysterious Beasts

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In 1941,The Bat sets about modernising the backward Duchy of Stahl,over which his dynasty has ruled since 1410 A.D.. The Bat is soon involved in experiments with the infamous Count Cogliostro. One of these experiments involves suspended animation;The Bat deciding he will be the test subject. When he wakes,The Bat finds that not days have gone by but 51 years! Worse,his kingdom is in ruins and an enclave of Kamora. The Bat tries politics to win back his homeland and when that fails he decides to fight for it! However,he is unaware that some old,and new,enemies are lying in wait to stop him and all of them want one thing:The Bat dead! Originally a back up strip in Black Tower Adventure in 1994,The Bat proved very popular as an anti-hero. The story was never completed. It is now.

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