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Justin Bieber And Lady Gaga Comic Publisher Refutes Legal Attack

Justin Bieber And Lady Gaga Comic Publisher Refutes Legal AttackJustin Bieber And Lady Gaga Comic Publisher Refutes Legal Attack

In a letter to retailers, publisher Darren G Davis of Bluewater Comics, who creates a series of biographical comic books about politicians and pop culture figures, has refuted recent reporting that he is being sued by Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga over their appearance in his Fame series of books. He writes;

By now you have no doubt heard that Bluewater Productions has encountered some publicity with regards to the upcoming Fame: Justin Bieber and the already-published Fame: Lady Gaga comic books. If you read the blogs and news feeds, it would seem that the company is being sued by these artists. As usual with this kind of media, they have gotten the facts wrong. Bluewater is NOT being sued by Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga or anyone else for that matter. What is happening is that a merchandising company that negotiated the rights to make lunch boxes, and key chains and poster books and all the knick-knacks you can buy, has sent us a cease and desist letter.

That's it. No lawsuit.

In fact, Bieber's and Gaga's personal management or their attorneys had no knowledge of this letter until the "news" was leaked by the merchandising company's lawyer.

It is routine for businesses to occasionally receive these letters regardless of merit. And in this case, it has absolutely no standing and it will not affect the publishing and sales of the mentioned titles. The attorney who drafted this letter knows this. He was the same lawyer who unsuccessfully sued Revolutionary Comics back in the 1990 on the same exact grounds. That case determined that comic books have the right to depict public personas. A person's image cannot be trademarked. The only caveat is that the books not use trademarked items like logos. And Bluewater titles do not do so.

We are well within our Constitutional rights to publish these books. They are unauthorized biographies and we do not try to hide that fact. In some cases we do work with the featured subject. In some cases we make donations to the charity of choice of the featured subject in exchange for their participation. Either way, legal precedent has been established that these books are "illustrated articles" and in 1990 the courts agreed: "Bookstores are filled with biographies – both authorized and unauthorized – of public figures. And, while the subjects of such biographies may be offended by the publication of their life stories, they generally have no claim for trademark infringement."

It has been gratifying to see the comic community come to my defense. Regardless of whether they like the biography titles or not; whether they like me personally or not; the community recognizes this tumult for what it is: an attack on the integrity of the medium and as a thinly disguised manipulation to control revenues because of competing products.

With that said, the "Fame" series and the other related biography titles have proven to be big sellers for outlets like yours. In many cases, it has brought new business to you that may have never otherwise visited your shop. We know this because many of our biography titles sell out within the first week of hitting the stands. This is true even when we consider an aggressive print run. Many times we gladly do second and third printings of a title to meet demand.

We believe the "controversy" revolving around the upcoming Bieber comic has affected some of your decisions on whether or not to pick up this title. I guarantee this title will come out on time. And just as titles like Fame: Robert Pattinson or Female Force: Stephenie Meyer brought new fans into your shops, so shall it be the same with the Bieber comic. I am asking you to consider adding Fame: Justin Bieber and the planned sequel to Fame: Lady Gaga to your next order.

We are also do a huge marketing plan that includes the comic shop locator. We have ads running in Teen Beat, Teen Vogue, 20 under 20, Nascar and more. These ads are designed to drive business to comic book stores. We also promote comic stores in the national press too. In Time Magazine last week to Access Hollywood today.

We have sold out of most of the recent biography comics from Taylor Swift to Robert Pattinson. Today we sold out of Anne Rice and Arnold Schwarzenegger. We overprint these books by a lot because they are being under ordered. But still they sell out.

There are unique challenges ahead for the comic industry as a whole. Sales across the board have suffered in recent years. So it is important, now more than ever, to work together to try and expand the market to new readers and new customers. In this endeavor, Bluewater will continue to provide quality publications to you. The idea, of course, is that they come for one book, and leave your store with several more they see on the shelf.

In addition to the various biography series, we have several fiction titles on the horizon that we believe will interest you core customers. With our varied and divergent titles, it is our hope to continue to drive new business to your shop.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, issues or concerns.

We look forward to serving you for years and years!


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Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.
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