Editing Neil Gaiman (section)

===Intellectual property disputes===
In 1993, Gaiman was contracted by [[Todd McFarlane]] to write a single issue of ''[[Spawn (comics)|Spawn]]'', for [[Image Comics]], which McFarlane had recently co-founded. McFarlane was promoting his new title by having guest authors Gaiman, [[Alan Moore]], [[Frank Miller]], and [[Dave Sim]] each write a single issue.<ref name="oralarg">Listen to the "Oral Argument," [http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/fdocs/docs.fwx?caseno=03-1331&submit=showdkt&yr=03&num=1331.PD List of Documents in case: 03-1331 : Gaiman, Neil v. McFarlane, Todd] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020045431/http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/fdocs/docs.fwx?caseno=03-1331&submit=showdkt&yr=03&num=1331.PD|date=20 October 2008}}. Retrieved 22 September 2008.</ref><ref name="Shabaz">See also the [http://vlex.com/vid/20111002 official decision by Judge John Shabaz in The United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit Nos. 03–1331, 03–1461] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205043220/http://vlex.com/vid/20111002|date=5 December 2008}}. Retrieved 22 September 2008.</ref>

In issue No. 9 of the series, Gaiman introduced the characters [[Angela (comics)|Angela]], [[Cogliostro]], and [[Medieval Spawn]]. Prior to this issue, Spawn was an assassin who worked for the government and came back as a reluctant agent of Hell but had no real direction in his actions. In Angela, a cruel and malicious angel, Gaiman introduced a character who threatened Spawn's existence, as well as providing a moral opposite. Cogliostro was introduced as a mentor character for exposition and instruction, providing guidance. Medieval Spawn introduced a history and precedent that not all Spawns were self-serving or evil, giving additional character development to [[Malebolgia]], the demon that creates Hellspawn.<ref name="oralarg" /><ref name="Shabaz" />

As intended, all three characters were used repeatedly throughout the next decade by Todd McFarlane within the wider ''Spawn'' universe.<ref>See Judge Shabaz's ruling for the legal reasoning: "As a co-owner, McFarlane was not violating the Copyright Act by unilaterally publishing the jointly owned work, but, as in any other case of conversion or misappropriation, he would have to account to the other joint owner for the latter's share of the profits."</ref> In papers filed by Gaiman in early 2002, however, he claimed that the characters were jointly owned by their scripter (himself) and artist (McFarlane), not merely by McFarlane in his role as the creator of the series.<ref name="oralarg" /><ref name="Shabaz" /> Disagreement over who owned the rights to a character was the primary motivation for McFarlane and other artists to form Image Comics (although that argument related more towards disagreements between writers and artists as character creators).<ref>See [[George Khoury (author)|Khoury, George]], ''Image Comics: The Road To Independence'' ([[TwoMorrows Publishing]], 2007), {{ISBN|1-893905-71-3}}</ref> As McFarlane used the characters without Gaiman's permission or royalty payments, Gaiman believed his [[copyright]]ed work was being infringed upon, which violated their original oral agreement. McFarlane initially agreed that Gaiman had not signed away any rights to the characters, and negotiated with Gaiman to effectively "swap" McFarlane's interest in the character [[Marvelman]].<ref>See Judge Shabaz's [http://vlex.com/vid/20111002 ruling] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205043220/http://vlex.com/vid/20111002|date=5 December 2008}}: "A tentative agreement was reached that... Gaiman would exchange his rights in Medieval Spawn and Cogliostro for McFarlane's rights in another comic book character, Miracleman."</ref> McFarlane had purchased an interest in the character when [[Eclipse Comics]] was liquidated while Gaiman was interested in being able to continue his aborted run of the Marvelman title. McFarlane later changed his initial position, claiming that Gaiman's work had only been work-for-hire and that McFarlane owned all of Gaiman's creations entirely. The presiding judge, however, ruled against their agreement being work for hire, based in large part on the legal requirement that "copyright assignments must be in writing."<ref>Judge Shabaz, [http://vlex.com/vid/20111002 Official ruling] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205043220/http://vlex.com/vid/20111002|date=5 December 2008}}, as per "Schiller & Schmidt, Inc. v. Nordisco Corp., 969 F.2d 410, 413 (7th Cir. 1992)"</ref>

The [[United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit|Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals]] upheld the district court ruling in February 2004<ref>{{cite web |last=Yarbrough |first=Beau |date=3 October 2002 |title=Gaiman in Stunning Victory over McFarlane in Spawn Case: Jury Finds for Gaiman on All Counts |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=1513 |access-date=22 September 2008 |website=Comic Book Resources}}</ref> granting joint ownership of the characters to Gaiman and McFarlane. On the specific issue of Cogliostro, presiding Judge [[John C. Shabaz]] proclaimed, "The expressive work that is the comic-book character Count Nicholas Cogliostro was the joint work of Gaiman and McFarlane—their contributions strike us as quite equal—and both are entitled to ownership of the copyright".<ref>See Judge Shabaz's [http://vlex.com/vid/20111002 ruling] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205043220/http://vlex.com/vid/20111002|date=5 December 2008}} for similar statements on Angela and Medieval Spawn.</ref> Similar analysis led to similar results for the other two characters, Angela and Medieval Spawn.

This legal battle was brought by Gaiman and the specifically formed Marvels and Miracles, [[Limited-liability company|LLC]], which Gaiman had previously created to help sort out [[Ownership of Miracleman|the legal rights surrounding Marvelman]]. Gaiman had written ''[[Marvel 1602]] ''in 2003 to help fund this project<ref name="CBR1602">{{cite web |last=Weiland |first=Jonah |date=27 June 2003 |title=Marvel's "1602" Press Conference |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=2308 |access-date=22 September 2008 |website=Comic Book Resources}}</ref> and all of Gaiman's profits for the original issues of the series were donated to Marvels and Miracles.<ref name="CBR1602" /> The rights to Marvelman were subsequently purchased, from original creator [[Mick Anglo]], by Marvel Comics in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |last=Phegley |first=Kiel |date=24 July 2009 |title=CCI: Marvel Acquires Marvelman |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=22206 |access-date=24 July 2009 |website=Comic Book Resources}}</ref>

Gaiman returned to court again over the ''Spawn'' characters [[Dark Ages Spawn]], [[Domina (Image Comics)|Domina]], and [[Tiffany (comics)|Tiffany]], claiming that they were "derivative of the three he co-created with McFarlane."<ref>{{cite web |last=Treleven |first=Ed |date=25 May 2010 |title=Gaiman takes on McFarlane in Wis. federal court comic book clash |url=http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/article_03bae1b4-684e-11df-84dd-001cc4c03286.html |access-date=26 May 2010 |work=[[Wisconsin State Journal]]}}</ref> The judge ruled that Gaiman was right in these claims as well and gave McFarlane until the beginning of September 2010 to settle the matter.<ref>{{cite web |last=Melrose |first=Kevin |date=21 July 2010 |title=Judge rules Dark Ages Spawn, Domina and Tiffany are derivative characters |url=http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/07/judge-rules-dark-ages-spawn-domina-and-tiffany-are-derivative-characters/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819124043/http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/07/judge-rules-dark-ages-spawn-domina-and-tiffany-are-derivative-characters/ |archive-date=19 August 2013 |access-date=31 July 2010 |website=Comic Book Resources}}</ref>