‘Fables’ creator says DC didn’t pay ‘The Wolf Among Us’
Bill Willingham, the creator of Fablessays DC did not properly pay royalties associated with Telltale Games The wolf among uswhich takes place in the universe of the series.
On his Substack, Willingham discussed recent talks with DC and his publishing agreement with the company. He described the company as confident: “[DC] had no obligation to protect the integrity and value of the intellectual property, either from themselves or from third parties (e.g. Telltale Games) who wish to radically change the story’s characters, settings, story and premise (I have seen) . the script they tried to hide from me for a few years). They also didn’t owe me any money for the licensing Fables Rights to third parties, as such a license was not provided for in our original publishing contract.”
He continued: “When in a later conference call they capitulated on some points and promised me on the phone that they would pay me back the amounts owed for the licensing Fables For example, they broke their word to Telltale Games in executing the new agreement and instead offered the promised amount as a “consulting fee”, thereby avoiding the precedent of admitting that it was money owed and involving a non-disclosure agreement that held me to it would prevent me from saying anything other than nice things about Telltale or the license.”
“One way or another I plan to get my 50% of the money they’ve owed me for years for the Telltale Game and other things,” he added.
Related: The Wolf Among Us 2 Rebirth makes the best of a bad situation
In the article, Willingham does not accuse either the old or the new Telltale Games of explicit misconduct. Much of his anger is directed at DC. In response to his problems with DC and his battle with the company for control of the property, Willingham has taken the unusual step of selling the property Fables in the public area. However, he is aware that this does not destroy his publishing deal with DC. In theory, this means that anyone can create and even sell their own products Fables stories.
“You have the right to make yours Fables Movies and cartoons and publish yours Fables Books and make yours Fables Toys, and do whatever you want with your property because it is your property,” he wrote.
In practice? It can be much more complicated, especially given the legal strength that DC has. So don’t start taking pre-orders for your hand-sewn Bigby Wolf pillowcases just yet.
As for The Wolf Among Us 2, it has already been pushed back to 2023, but I doubt this will have much of an impact on its release. Well, unless someone starts writing their own The Wolf Among Us 3. Then you can expect the fur to fly.
The Fables In the universe, various characters from fairy tales and folklore live in New York City after their homeland was conquered by The Adversary. Written by Willingham and primarily drawn by Mark Buckingham, Fables was published by DC as part of their Vertigo series.
