The Law of Comics: There is a widespread image that the comic book industry is like the Wild West. Writer Louis Southard taps into this analogy in his new column for Comics Beat called Faking Into Comics 101. The goal of this blog is to examine aspects of the industry like comic con strategies, editorial relations, crowdfunding, creative team synergy, publisher submissions, digital promotion, intellectual property management, and mental health. He encapsulates his perception of the industry in what he refers to as “the Lawless Age of Comics” where he writes, “there is no right or wrong. It is a space where anyone and everyone has a chance to be included. Where there are only results, and nobody really cares how they are achieved, they just need to be done.”
This is a powerful message, and it has some truth to it. 21st-century comics are not limited by traditional gatekeepers. There is no degree you need to achieve, no license you need to obtain, and no permission you need to receive to start a publishing company, get a publishing deal, or work for a publisher. But as a lawyer, I have to push back against the idea that there is no right or wrong, or that no one cares how results are achieved. Comics are still subject to intellectual property laws, general marketing principles, and economic realities. You still have to avoid things like infringement, social cancelation, and bankruptcy. Comics are still a business, and that business still has some guardrails you might want to consider when making your comics.
I doubt Louis was advocating ignoring all laws when he used the term lawless, and this isn’t an attack on the blog. I’m sure it will be very good, and I plan to read the whole thing. But lawyers are trained to feel some type of way about the word lawless, which is why I said what I said.
Proof of Ownership: Here’s a creator question: “You said that the only way to secure a copyright is to register it. You also said that as soon as the original work is written, it has a copyright. This seems contradictory.”
That is understandable. The contradiction originates from the difference between owning a copyright and proving you own a copyright. It is true that you have a copyright in an original work as soon as that work is recorded somehow, but in order to prove you have a copyright to a court looking at an infringement case, a producer looking to turn your comic into a movie, or a licensee trying to make toys based on your comic, you need more than a timestamp on a PDF or an envelope mailed to yourself. An official copyright registration is what is known as prima facie evidence of a valid copyright, which is just a Latin term that means if you have that piece of paper, you don’t need any other evidence to prove copyright ownership. This can make a huge difference when ongoing discovery in a lawsuit can cost tens of thousands of dollars, or your entire movie deal is riding on proof that you own your story.
Legally, you are not required to register a copyright for your comic, but as a practical matter, if you’re going to spend $500 on a cover and $5,000 to print and ship it, you might as well spend $65 to register the copyright.
Who Are You Talking To: If you needed another reason to hate AI, then we need to talk about bot scams. Over the past several months I get about twenty to thirty emails a day offering a great opportunity to turn my novels into movies. I spoke with a prominent agent during New York Comic Con who told me several authors contacted her, claiming she contacted them offering to buy the rights for their books, even though that’s not how agents work. I recently had a client get a series of aggressive emails from a European law firm demanding payment for an allegedly infringing photo on their website, even though there was no DMCA takedown notice and no copyright registration for the photo. According to a recent story in France 24, one in four Europeans admit to falling for some kind of online scam, which has become much more sophisticated in an era of chatbots and deepfakes.
Comic book creators may be more vulnerable to these scams than other people, since many of them spend months or years trying to get attention on their projects, and an email from what appears to be a legitimate source actually interested in their book might be too tempting to resist. While there is no absolute protection against online scams, the comic book industry does have some defense mechanisms.
First, remember that the industry is small. Referrals from people you actually know and have worked with are often going to be your best source of connections, not a random email from someone you never heard of telling you how great your book is. Second, due diligence on any potential agent, publisher, producer, or collaborator is an important step in finding out if a potential deal is real or if they are worth dealing with even if they are real. Third, as with any potential deal, understand what you are getting and what you are giving up in any contract put in front of you. Finally, try to engage with your potential partner beyond email, text, or even phone calls. Zoom calls and in-person meetings are best, at least until the fraudsters perfect deepfake Zoom calls and pay professional impersonators to show up at meetings.
Sales Funnels for Fun and Profit: Here’s a creator question: “How many people will buy a printed copy of a comic they have already read digitally?”
This is in response to the distribution idea I floated last week, where the digital version of a comic is used to generate interest for a print version in a crowdfunding campaign. According to a 2024 study from Portland University entitled Digital Comics Subscription Service Usage and Its Impact on Printed Comic Buying Habits, up to 80% of the people in their survey sampled a digital comic and then went on to purchase a physical copy within a year.
That number seems high to me, but it is still a good example of a sales funnel, or the theoretical journey potential readers make from knowing nothing about your comic to becoming devoted fans. Not every person who sees your social media will sign up for your newsletter, and not every newsletter subscriber will back your Kickstarter. But this model provides a framework for driving people to your comic without relying on a publisher, a comic shop, or other gatekeeper to give you access to readers. It’s not a fast process and I wouldn’t expect 80% of your digital readers to buy print, but even if only 10-20% of them convert, you’ll be selling more comics that you might have sold without any system at all.
The Cost of Comics: Here’s a creator comment based on last week’s analysis of convention profit at Lifeline Comics. “The profit margin Phil and Kat have only works if you don’t factor in time value and opportunity costs. They made $800 in profit, but they spent three days at the con, not to mention whatever time they spent prepping for the show, breaking down afterwards, and sitting on the plane. All the time you spend at the con is time you’re not writing, drawing, or focusing on other aspects of your comics. There is definitely a marketing and PR benefit to attending cons that goes beyond the straight profit, but that’s harder to quantify and possibly justify if time is limited.”
This creator brings up some good points. Depending on what else you have going on in your life, and how your publishing business works, taking out three days to attend a con, even three or four times per year, can be detrimental to your life overall. Comics Beat also ran a story this week questioning the financial viability of Artist Alley in light of the Lifeline TikTok post. There is also the reality that some comic creators are not social extroverts who are comfortable competing with thousands of other creators for attention to convince readers to buy their books face to face. This is why it is important to understand that convention sales are a distribution option for creators, not a requirement. If you have the time, the temperament and the tenacity to work the con circuit, then you can make money there. But if you’re not that kind of creator, there’s no point putting yourself through that kind of stress.
