Chuck Dixon supports Chris Wozniak's Batman plagiarism lawsuit

[The Laughing Fish]

https://boundingintocomics.com/2023/02/15/writer-chuck-dixon-reacts-to-chris-wozniaks-legal-battle-over-the-batman-im-on-team-chris-and-you-should-be-too/?fbclid=IwAR2GGRptz7oTYBUjKaY3T-EEUPzQGOmUN96S16ZccNoopwT2CQZL1SILerI

I heard about this alleged plagiarism story last year, but I didn't think much of it because I have no desire to ever watch the movie and judge if these claims were real or not.

I thought it was very likely Chris Wozniak could've been a lying attention seeker, until not only did Chuck Dixon support the guy, he shared his own experience with WB and their shady dealings in trying to mine story ideas for content. As Dixon explained in the video embedded in that article, he had to carefully not name anyone directly to avoid getting sued, but you can tell he was talking about Michael Uslan, the long-time Batman film producer with who Wozniak has specifically accused of stealing his story. The fact that Dixon walked out of the meeting because he knew he'd get screwed over if he cooperated is a pretty damning look on Uslan.

Thinking about it now, I can see how the claims line up with some details over the years: how the Riddler was expected to be the new villain in Nolan's third film, how Sam Hamm's Batman copycat subplot in his canceled Batman II script ended up in TDK. It appears Uslan uses material he has access to adapt in future films, and it seems it does this without compensating anyone who came up with such ideas. The problem is the creators don't own the IP themselves, so they're open to being taken advantage of. Because of that, I can see how the studio hasn't done anything technically wrong, according to the law. It sucks, it may be unethical, but it's not necessarily illegal. The biggest problem facing Wozniak's case is he pitched his story treatment to DC and Uslan himself, so if he had ambitions to get credited for his work then he was extremely naive.

Nonetheless, Wozniak isn't holding back on Twitter, including the condemnation of facing a counter lawsuit by DC Comics for supposedly writing an unsolicited Batman story. Dixon reckons that's just as ludicrous as suing every person who wrote Batman fan-fiction.











I'm rather surprised Wozniak went so far to sue Uslan and WB, because last year he admitted in a livestream that he didn't have the money to take them to court and he knew how powerful they are. He's either brave or stupid, but he is determined to get this known by many people as possible. All I can say is if Wozniak is telling the truth 100% then I wish him all the best.

[thecolorsblend]

When it comes to a company as highly leveraged as WBD, it's fair to ask if they might settle just to save money on legal expenses. Ten years ago, with the Time-Warner media empire behind them, this might have been uphill battle. But in today's world, you know, I think Woz has a shot here.

I'm no attorney. But the specific allegations Woz has made sound pretty powerful. If DC published a story by Joe Blow that WBD later adapted into a movie, Joe Blow probably wouldn't be in a position to sue. He had been paid for his work. The company is probably legally in the clear on that. Plus, DC Comics has been known to cut big checks to creative people whose ideas get used in movies and shows and stuff.

But what Woz has claimed sounds different since this was a pitch for which he never received a single penny. And if a judge agrees that the movie was based on his original pitch, Woz is going to have WBD by the balls. What Woz is asking for (not much) and what a judge might order WBD to pay (a hell of a lot) could be very different from each other.

Most surprising of all in this whole mess (at least for me) is how little Uslan seems to contribute to these movies based on Woz and Dixon's claims. Story ideas or reimagined characters are not difficult to come up with, esp if you're as big a fanboy as Uslan claims to be. I've had a Joker story rattling around in my head since I was 12. So, what's Uslan's excuse?