Am I fair for denying use of my intellectual property?

[flucket]

Sorry, I know this isn't really the right place for this but I literally have no idea where else to turn short of reddit which I'd rather not because 1) reddit and 2) I wouldn't even know which subreddit anyway. If all you can offer by way of advice is "try asking on this reddit/forum instead", I'd still really appreciate it.

A friend of mine have worked together a couple times before making published comics for a small publisher, myself writing and them doing the art. We had an RP project that they were attached to and we agreed to turn it into a comic, they spoke with the publisher (I've never had contact with the publisher, the relationship was always that the publisher contacted them, and they hired me to be their writer), and things have been cooking for a while, but got delayed due to a whole host of reasons going on in both our lives. But during all of this, whenever my friend mentioned their desire to work on it, I always said, "Just give me a sort of outline of how you want this organised and I will start writing. Feel free to poke me or start setting me deadlines, I just need an outline to start." The story was more focused on their character, so I felt it would be better for my friend to set the general outline of how they wanted it.

No pokes or deadlines were every provided, it was barely ever mentioned, even the few times I took the initiative to be like "hey did you do that outline". I did not bring it up often, as this friend was extremely busy and every time we talked it was some variation of "I wish I had the time/energy to do personal work but I have been doing 8 hours of commissions/merch design/anthology comic work/house moving/whatever and am wiped", and I dunno, I just took that to mean "my plate is so supremely full that this comic project we had isn't even on my mind". That was, I admit, and assumption on my part, and as they say, to assume is to make an ass etc.

Found out today that THREE days ago they made a public announcement on social media that the comic was being developed. I don't go on social media often as it's unhealthy for me, so when I do, I mostly just post something and browse a little then stop. Especially more recently given the state of the world, it's just been an increasingly unhealthy place for my anxiety. Every couple of days I check my friends personal/private social media accounts just to keep up to date with anything important in their lives, and this was how I saw this announcement.

I responded with just "oh", mostly because I literally had no idea how to respond to this announcement but wanted to indicate I'd seen it and that we could talk about it. To be honest, I was expecting my friend to message me and say "yeah I thought we should get a move on and I'd made the announcement public to motivate us to keep to it" or something. Instead they messaged me in private and said they "didn't feel I was up to it" and that it would be "a heavy burden of stress" on me they didn't want me to have to go through (due to my mental health and family situation), and that's why they were "going ahead with a different writer" and would "pay me for use of [my character]".

I've worked with this publisher via my friend enough to know that if public announcements were being made, contracts were probably already signed (to be clear: this is speculation). My friend and for the purposes of this project creative partner, without asking me if I was okay with it or if I felt I was up to the work, went behind my back, courted another writer, did not run this writer by me to see if I felt they were able to convey my character and the collaborative story I had contributed to in a way I felt was true to both, signed contracts with them, and posted a public announcement about it. They had three days after the public announcement to tell me about this, and probably weeks beforehand of private conversation with publisher and writer to communicate with me about this, but didn't say anything at all until after I publicly acknowledged the announcement.

To be honest I don't care if they really do go ahead and do the story with a different writer, as I said, it's more about their character than mine, and I'm not really as attached to it as they are -- especially now, I don't think I'd even want to work on it if they offered. If they had been up front and said "hey I don't think you're up for this/I think I'm more invested in making this happen than you are and would like to talk with other writers" I would have probably agreed just so long as I could be involved in talking with them and be allowed to sit in on talks about the story and provide feedback on scripts etc. even if just in the capacity of the depiction of my character. I'm actually extremely chill, afraid of confrontation, and willing to compromise, but entirely on the caveat that I receive clear communication. It's just the lack of communication, and the using of my personal health and life problems as justification for leaving me entirely in the dark and (possibly) signing contracts about using my character without permission or even giving me a heads up has made me more upset than not being the writer any more.

Due to anger and hurt, I reacted strongly in private conversation, said some nasty things I do regret but also don't right this second because I'm still upset and I'm writing this fresh off talking with my friend, and told them flatly to inform the publisher the comic would have to be put on hold unless my character was changed to a new one, as I did not consent to mine being part of the comic and would "be filing a DMCA takedown if I see him anywhere near it in the future". Again, something I do and don't regret at this moment. It was nasty and there are nicer ways to say "please don't go ahead with this until we've had an opportunity to fairly and thoroughly talk this out and come to an amicable compromise", but, angey. When I've calmed down I'll address this more fairly with them.

On the one hand, once I calm down I think I'd be open to negotiating selling the usage of my character to the comic, but I'm still feeling incredibly angry and hurt that all of this was negotiated and initiated without ever involving me at any step of the process, and it also makes me feel, for lack of a better term, "icky" to just let them go ahead, and I have no idea whether I'm justified or I'm just emotional. I'm a salt-the-earth kind of grudge holder and know I can be unreasonably petty, so it's hard to know a lot of the times. I'm asking for both legal and personal advice to this end.

On a legal level, what are my negotiation rights here? The story was collaborative but I'm holding less affection and attachment to it by the second and I don't even know if I have any legal rights to "roleplay story". But for use of a character that would (as far as I am aware based on what we discussed about the story last year anyway) tread a balanced line between co-lead and second lead, so not a small part, what would a fair price for usage rights be? I don't know how many chapters/volumes the comic would be (I was never given that outline), but it was specifically expressed to be a long term project.

On a personal level, and all I can ask for is each person's opinion and how they would feel, I know there's no objectively correct answer here; how would you handle this situation? Would you negotiate usage rights or ask for the original level of involvement as a writer, or completely pull away from the project and deny usage rights?

I'm writing this still in a state of heightened emotion but would appreciate a clear and objective kick in the butt if I'm being the petty asshole here, I came here specifically for an outsider's perspective. And again, if all you have to say is "I don't think we can help you with that, you might want to check out [site]", that would also be appreciated.

[flucket]

HEY SORRY I POSTED THIS IN THE WRONG SUBFORUM PLEASE MOVE IT I AM SO SORRY, I WAS IN SUCH A STATE I DIDN'T REALISE.

[James]

I have no advice on the legalities, but I do have thoughts on the usage of your character:

Without context it can be difficult to assess how out of the blue this was, but going strictly off of your text, I'd be hurt too.  I've had a single long term RP partner since I was 14 years old.  (I'm 34 now, and said RP partner is my husband.)  I'd be deeply hurt if he considered using my main OC for such a public project without talking to me.  Just in a general level that kind of a project would bring all sorts of levels of excitement.  This is seeing your characters come to life!  This is seeing a story that's previously existed in a private(ish?) setting come to a public setting.

Whether or not you choose to license the use of your character or not, take into account what might happen to them if this project takes off.  Would you be ok with that?  Some comic creators hated seeing some shipping art of their characters, but had to give up because of the sheer amount of it and the tenacity of the fans.  Can you handle that?

[Thaily]

If they're being this inconsiderate of your feelings now, it'll only get worse in the future. 

I'd pull my character if I were you. 
If the story doesn't mean much to you, I'd let it go. Odds are this isn't going anywhere anyway, with how they're flailing about currently. 

[ArtsyAlraune]

I'd pull the character too. You reached out to them multiple times earlier in the process to try and collaborate and they continued to brush you off and privately court this other writer in the meantime. It sucks that they did this to you, and this breakdown of your friendship and collaboration is their fault, not yours. They should have been more honest with you, but they shouldn't get to just pull the rug out from under you like this and use your character after this stunt.