“But as written, the Zudadeal stands in opposition to the creator ownership that has been one of the core strengths of webcomics since Day One. Webcomics can do better, and so can you.” – Gary Tyrell, Fleen.com
In the comments section to my last post on this matter, someone whom I can only describe as a starry-eyed hopeful asked me flat out why I wasn’t hanging out at the Zuda forums, if I wanted my questions answered. So I did, and… yikes. The staff there have what I like to call “well-meaning corporate employee” disease, where it’s there job to put the best face on the company and tell you it’s going to be okay, even if they don’t know exactly how it might be okay. This isn’t a jab at them, this is their job, but… yeah, I’m not prepared to accept a Zuda employee’s pat on the back that it’ll be okay. Granted, they do keep advising you TO CHECK WITH A LAWYER BEFORE SIGNING ANYTHING, which is very legally responsible on their part.
I’ve also got some trackbacks from other sites talking about the deal and what’s going down. As expected, there’s a bunch of the “Why would you care about signing away one idea? We all have thousands of ideas!” stuff the roughly equates the popularity and success of Simon and Kirby on Captain America with Simon and Kirby on The Fighting American, two ideas clearly of equal value to all parties concerned…
But yeah, I think Gary Tyrell at Fleen.com does a really good job of exploring what the contract means in plain English, and letting people decide if the deal is right for them. It doesn’t paint a rosy picture of course, but then how could it? If you aren’t sick of this yet (or if you’re considering participating in the publishing contest) head over and check Gary’s write-up, I think you’ll be glad you did.
– Christopher, wants to write a webcomic about webcomics.