Editing Watchmen (section)

=== Ownership disputes ===
Disagreements about the ownership of the story ultimately led Moore to sever ties with DC Comics.<ref name="NYC Itzkoff">{{cite news |last=Itzkoff |first=Dave |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/movies/12itzk.html?_r=4&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin |title=The Vendetta Behind 'V for Vendetta |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 12, 2006 |access-date=October 7, 2008 | archive-date = May 26, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140526064658/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/movies/12itzk.html?_r=4&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin | url-status = live}}</ref> Not wanting to work under a [[work for hire]] arrangement, Moore and Gibbons had a reversion clause in their contract for ''Watchmen''. Speaking at the 1985 [[San Diego Comic-Con]], Moore said: "The way it works, if I understand it, is that DC owns it for the time they're publishing it, and then it reverts to Dave and me, so we can make all the money from the [[Slurpee]] cups."<ref name="TCJ106" /> For ''Watchmen'', Moore and Gibbons received eight percent of the series' earnings.<ref name="strange" /> Moore explained in 1986 that his understanding was that when "DC have not used the characters for a year, they're ours."<ref name="TCJ116" /> Both Moore and Gibbons said DC paid them "a substantial amount of money" to retain the rights. Moore added, "So basically they're not ours, but if DC is working with the characters in our interests then they might as well be. On the other hand, if the characters have outlived their natural life span and DC doesn't want to do anything with them, then after a year we've got them and we can do what we want with them, which I'm perfectly happy with."<ref name="TCJ116" />

Moore said he left DC in 1989 due to the language in his contracts for ''Watchmen'' and his ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' series with artist [[David Lloyd (comics)|David Lloyd]]. Moore felt the reversion clauses were ultimately meaningless because DC did not intend to let the publications go out of print. He told ''The New York Times'' in 2006, "I said, 'Fair enough&nbsp;... You have managed to successfully swindle me, and so I will never work for you again.{{Single double}}<ref name="NYC Itzkoff" /> In 2000, Moore publicly distanced himself from DC's plans for a 15th anniversary ''Watchmen'' hardcover release as well as a proposed line of action figures from [[DC Direct]]. While DC wanted to mend its relationship with the writer, Moore felt the company was not treating him fairly in regard to his [[America's Best Comics]] imprint (launched under the [[WildStorm]] comic [[Imprint (trade name)|imprint]], which was bought by DC in 1998; Moore was promised no direct interference by DC as part of the arrangement). Moore added, "As far as I'm concerned, the 15th anniversary of ''Watchmen'' is purely a 15th Anniversary of when DC managed to take the ''Watchmen'' property from me and Dave [Gibbons]."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081216124434/http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?threadid=34286 "Moore Leaves the Watchmen 15th anniversary plans"]. ''[[Newsarama]]'', August 2000. Retrieved on October 7, 2008. Archived from the [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?threadid=34286 original] on December 16, 2008.</ref> Soon afterward, DC Direct canceled the ''Watchmen'' action-figure line, despite the company having displayed prototypes at the 2000 San Diego Comic-Con.<ref name="toys">St-Louis, Hervé. [http://www.comicbookbin.com/Watchmen_Action_Figures001.html "Watchmen Action Figures&nbsp;– Controversies and Fulfillment"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100119052604/http://www.comicbookbin.com/Watchmen_Action_Figures001.html |date=January 19, 2010 }}. ''ComicBookBin'', August 18, 2008. Retrieved on December 24, 2008.</ref>