Todd McFarlane Productions facing Chapter 11

[frankthedm]

A hockey player who's RL name sound like a mob enforcer's nickname didn't like that fact.

Tony Twist wins battle over name
Judge orders comic artist pay $15 million.

Published Sunday, July 11, 2004
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Tony Twist, a former National Hockey League enforcer known more for his fighting than his skating, has been awarded $15 million by a jury that found a comic strip creator had profited by using Twist’s name without his permission.

Comic book artist Todd McFarlane is the former principal artist and writer of Spider-Man comics.

He gave the name Antonio "Tony Twist" Twistelli to a violent New York mob boss character in McFarlane’s Spawn comics in the early 1990s.

McFarlane had claimed his use of the name was protected under the First Amendment.

Twist disagreed, saying McFarlane had gone outside the bounds of free speech rights.

Twist was awarded more than $24.5 million in 2000 by a St. Louis Circuit Court jury, but the judge overruled that decision.

The Missouri Court of Appeals’ Eastern District ruled two years ago in McFarlane’s favor, citing First Amendment protections, but the Missouri Supreme Court in July 2003 ordered a new trial. The court called McFarlane’s use of Twist’s name "predominantly a ploy to sell comic books and related products rather than an artistic or literary expression."

McFarlane appealed in December 2003 to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing "Spawn" characters "are purely fictional fantasies and no reasonable person could confuse the plaintiff with the fictional fantasies and characters portrayed therein."

The high court rejected the appeal in January without comment.

"They made Tony into a Mafia boss," said James Holloran, an attorney for Twist, a former St. Louis Blues player. "He was involved in murders and kidnappings and rapes."

The First Amendment doesn’t allow an artist to use someone’s name for commercial advantage, Holloran said. McFarlane’s attorney disagreed.

"The use at issue in this case is no different from Simon and Garfunkel’s use of the name Joe DiMaggio in the song ‘Mrs. Robinson,’ " said Michael Kahn, one of McFarlane’s attorneys.

"He thought it was a cool name for a mobster," Kahn added.

The St. Louis Circuit Court jury on Friday found McFarlane and his comic book company, Todd McFarlane Productions Inc., had infringed on Twist’s publicity rights and ordered them to pay $15 million.

Kahn vowed to appeal the verdict.

"This is just round four in this First Amendment battle," he said. "We will appeal this all the way."


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[Chun-tzu]

The Tony Twist lawsuit is the main reason why TMP has filed for bankruptcy. Newsarama has written a good follow-up article here:
http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23737

McFarlane himself is not in any kind of financial trouble at all. Todd McFarlane Productions is only one of seven McFarlane companies. This move is just Todd giving the finger to Twist primarily, and possible Gaiman as well (Twist was awarded 15 million; Gaiman's award has yet to be calculated but could well be in the millions).

Todd's established quite a reputation as a jack @$$, and probably does deserve whatever's coming to him. But this Twist lawsuit is pure BS. It is utterly ludicrous that Twist could be awarded so much for "lost endorsement money." Hockey endorsements are rare, nowhere near the same league as baseball or basketball, and Twist is hardly a prominent hockey player. Todd is long overdue for his comeuppance, but this Twist lawsuit is not justice.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

T This move is just Todd giving the finger to Twist primarily, and possible Gaiman as well (Twist was awarded 15 million; Gaiman's award has yet to be calculated but could well be in the millions).

Except the Gaiman lawsuit was with TMP and Todd himself as an individual. Regardless of what happens with TMP going bankrupt, TM is still on the hook for whatever the award comes out to be for Gaiman.

 

[jester47]

Neil or Todd. hrm. Todd is only marginally creative, can draw good, makes money off of other properties, makes people cry in business meetings and has a solid rep for being an hole. Neil is generally creative, is brittish so like Morrus he's very polite by american standards, works wtih Terry Pratchett, comes up with his own stuff and seems to be well liked. Who indeed.

Todd needs to understand that the only thing hes good at is drawing. Tony Twist's successful lawsuit may just be a result of people saying "Man this guy is a dick, lets teach him a lesson, even though this lawsuit is crap."

Aaron.

 

[Villano]

Assuming, for sake of discussion, that this story is true,

Wha...?

how can readers know the mental stability of the person & the details of the meeting in question? [begin hypothetical example] I have little sympathy for person who breaks into tears when their business claims [or the business claims of a company they represent] trip someones BS detector and that someone verbally confronts them.

Again I say, wha...?

Sooo...You're not sure if the story is true, but you can toss out a hypothetical assumption that the person upset McFarlane because she "tripped his BS detector" and that he "verbally confronted" her?

As for people treating employees like crap, let me tell you, it happens. John Dilworth, the creator of Courage the Cowardly Dog, has an $@%*! reputation, too. He actually wrote a bunch of insulting things on a Post It note and slapped it on an animator's head at a meeting. I worked with the guy it happened to and others who were there when it happened.

I had a chance to work for his studio but was warned away from it by others who've worked for him. I was told, "You'll make good money, but be miserable."

Of course, you can argue that you don't really know if that story is true either, but whatever... :\

Back to McFarlane, considering what we know about him (it's rare to find anyone who's worked with him that has any kind words), it really doesn't stretch credibity that it's be a %$#@& in a business meeting, does it?