DC has responded to Fables creator Bill Willingham's announcement that he has put Fables into the public domain with an official press statement sent to CBR stating that Fables is NOT in the public domain, and that it will take all actions to protect its intellectual property rights.
Willingham, of course, argued otherwise when he released a press release claiming that, as of, "15 September 2023, the comic book property called Fables, including all related Fables spin-offs and characters, is now in the public domain. What was once wholly owned by Bill Willingham is now owned by everyone, for all time. It’s done, and as most experts will tell you, once done it cannot be undone. Take-backs are neither contemplated nor possible."
What was DC's full statement?
In response to CBR's article on Willingham's announcement, DC sent CBR the following statement:
The Fables comic books and graphic novels published by DC, and the storylines, characters, and elements therein, are owned by DC and protected under the copyright laws of the United States and throughout the world in accordance with applicable law and are not in the public domain. DC reserves all rights and will take such action as DC deems necessary or appropriate to protect its intellectual property rights.
The characters in Fables were all actually based upon public domain characters to begin with, but the specific versions of the characters in the series are still distinctive and copyrightable. For instance, while "The Big Bad Wolf" in general cannot be copyrighted, Bigby Wolf specifically can.
What do the copyrights for Fables say on the matter, at all?
As part of his press release about putting Fables into public domain, Willingham noted, "The one thing in our contract the DC lawyers can’t contest, or reinterpret to their own benefit, is that I am the sole owner of the intellectual property. I can sell it or give it away to whomever I want."
Writer Zach Rabiroff posted on social media that the most recent Fables copyright filings list Willingham as the copyright holder, through written agreement with DC...
Of course, the key words there are "through written agreement," which suggests that the true reading of this situation would require examination of the specific contract details that Willingham and DC have with each other.
A general requirement for the protection on intellectual property rights is that you have to actively defend them, so DC making a relatively rare public statement on the matter lines up with that approach. However, without further specific details as to what the contractual situation is between DC and Willingham, much of the legal analysis of the matter will remain speculative. Suffice it to say, though, that anyone thinking of taking Willingham up on his "released" copyright will face a legal challenge from DC.
Source: DC