Disney-comics digest #661.

[Don Rosa]

>RON:
        Well, I am a member of the Screenwriters' Guild, as a mattafack.
        But you're still wrong unless the contract that Disney required all
their freelancers to sign is meaningless. Actually, I was already pretty
sure that it was a void contract since it was not an agreement that gave
concessions to both parties -- it was simply a waiver by one party of all
rights whatsoever to the work he had done alone. But one tiny bit of the
many clauses was that Disney owns the rights to the material "for use in all
media existing now or in the future, throughout the universe". (Actual
quote) Actually, I'm pretty sure they've scrapped that contract by now! They
have made a LITTLE progress.
        But then again, I refused to sign that contract without a rider that
said it would soon be adjusted, and we later voided it even if it was legal.
        But if Disney DID decide to take my stories and make a TV series or
movie out of them, what could I do??? I can't sue Disney! I wouldn't even
dare ask the Guild to sue Disney. I like my job with Egmont and would want
to keep it.
        All my behind the scenes fighting is for the right of freelance
artists to have their artwork returned to them and with no strings attached,
just as it is with all other freelancers. That job is hard enough to do and
to have to do completely alone. You can sue Disney for me over some "Lo$"
feature-length movie.