In case you missed it Tony Moore recently sued Robert Kirkman over Walking Dead, and it stirred up all kinds of comments and reactions. Most notably an exchange on Twitter between Rick Remender and Cory Walker where they argued if designing characters is enough to constitute ownership. Walker collaborated with Remender on Strange Girl, an Image series from 2005. The twist is that Walker quit the project before the first issue was even fully conceived, and Eric Nguyen replaced him and provided art for all 18 issues of the comic. Walker’s contribution boils down to character designs and sketches. This exchange on Twitter is certainly not about to explode into another lawsuit, but it raises an interesting question, just what defines ownership of an idea?

Should Walker receive credit for being the first to put pencil to paper and transforming Remender’s words into images, or does all the credit go to Eric Nguyen, who did the hard work of illustrating 18 issues? For that matter how much credit should go to the artist, over the say the writer. To take this even a step further, how much credit goes to whatever influenced the creators in the first place. I’m sure many have found themselves reading stories, only to find many or few elements borrowed from elsewhere. What then even constitutes a new idea? Is it turtles all the way down? Read More