Fixed check and an invitation to the premiere
The American medium The Guardian They have been in charge of uncovering this uncomfortable topic. According to the publication, the creators of comics who work for Marvel Studios or for DC are charged for specific commissions, generally receiving a fixed and invariable amount regardless of the potential of their work or the subsequent income that it will report to the company.
This amount is set, in the case of Marvel Studios and according to three different sources, at $ 5,000 and an invitation to the premiere of the movie, a figure that sounds insufficient considering the millionaire amounts that the firm pocketed later. Although Marvel has been specifically more pointed out on this occasion, as we indicated this modus operandi is also common in DC / Warner Bros (from AT&T), based on The Guardian.
Related to this, the medium Gizmodo remember the case of Ed brubaker. This writer who, along with Steve Epting, Frank D’Armata and Randy Gentile, designed the Captain America comic series that would serve as the basis for the hit movie The winter soldier, recently confessed that he has won practically nothing despite the fact that the character made the leap into the Marvel Cinematic Universe by appearing in several films and even in a TV series – not to mention that he was even invited to the premieres.
Honoring the truth, Brubaker also acknowledges that this is not always exactly the case. There are times that special contracts have been made to some creators that guarantee future earnings in case their stories are adapted. The problem is that these agreements must be requested by the interested parties themselves (who are often unaware of their existence) and they are not always fulfilled …
Confusing and uneven agreements
According to the article by The GuardianBoth DC and Marvel have contracts that guarantee different types of remuneration if their work is adapted. The problem is that in the case of the signature of Disney, they are very difficult to access and “some Marvel creators didn’t even know they existed.”
This generates a great inequality not only between workers within the company but also between the same union of creators even when it comes to similar orders in the same firm.
A Marvel spokesperson has stated that there are no such restrictions on contract information by creators, but it has not wanted to confirm or deny the fixed figure disclosed. In the case of DC, they have refused to respond to requests for information from The Guardian.
In any case, the issue is controversial: many also believe that the company is fully entitled to commission a specific job, pay for it what was agreed (and accepted by the beneficiary) and then do with the material what it wants (earning more or less money depending on how to take advantage of it).
And you, where are you from?
