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Cracked's Daniel O'Brien has the exact right diet for FOX after the recent WATCHMEN court decision!
Hey folks, Harry here... The legal quagmire over the WATCHMEN is a nightmare. Warner Brothers & Paramount - which financed the movie's epic undertaking... will have to pony up a great deal of money to the apparently legally deserving, yet morally bankrupt and loathsome entity... FOX. Now, I know we have an article up discussing the recent judge's decision, but my friend Kraken, actually - he's Quint's Male Travel Companion (make of that what you will - and whatever you make of it, you'll probably be right) - But this link to Cracked's Daniel O'Brien's Blog regarding this matter is the most coherent and right on my personal feelings upon this matter. You all deserve to read this amazingly apt editorial by the great Daniel O'Brien.
Readers Talkback
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...all the armchair attorneys (read: 15-yeaar-olds with opinions) to comment on Fox, WB and the whole mess. Bring it on! I love it!!
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closest ive come
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what she said.
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Who was the clown genius that green lit this production before making sure they had all the rights to the material? Seems to me Warners and Paramount made a complete dumb ass move here and OF COURSE Fox is going to cash in on it. They have the legal recourse to do so. Dogs fuck the pope, no fault of theirs
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I read it yesterday. Dan hit the nail on the head. Fox can eat dick, a lot of dick.
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except that a vast quantity of dicks must be consumed. Again....slimy fucks though they might be, Fox did what any other bottom line oriented company would have done (waiting till the product was ready to be released is nasty but sure gives them the best bargaining chip). Warner legal needs to be munching on some of those shafts as well.
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Come on, "eat all dicks" or whatever childish nonsense, give me a break. Warner's knew what they were doing and who owned what and when. They knew the risks they were taking. Somewhere in the past, Fox DID pay money for the rights, so obviously they are entitled to something. The Warners' lawyers knew this, sounds like Warners are the ones that tried to pull a fast. Hey, I want to see this movie for over 20 years myself, if I'm gonna be pissed at anyone, it's Warners for allowing themselves to be put in this position.
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"Fox is technically right, and also technically a piece of shit." It was all about the timing. Fox ambushed WB AFTER they FINISHED making the movie. That's what makes FOX the villain in this story.
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Let's be clear here- Fox isn't claiming that no one else had the rights to MAKE the movie. They're just saying that they still own the rights to DISTRIBUTE it. Essentially, they're saying, hey thanks for taking all the financial risks, now we want all the profits. There wasa similar problem with the Hobbit- New Line never intended to make the movie, they bought the rights to make it so that no one else would make it when they learned that Lord of the Rings was being done big budget. So when they decided to make it, they had to deal with the distribution rights as aseperate issue. Fox is playing slimy, but be clear that they didn't stop this movie being made because they didn't own the rights to make it- just the right to distribute it.
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Lighten the fuck up. DOB is one of the funniest writers on the internets, period. My only gripe with his column is that he calls it "The Watchmen." Harry thank you for linking to this!
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This is clearly legal malpractice. Someone didn't do their job before the movie was greenlit. That man or woman should probably lose his or her job. See if the companies can maybe recoup some money from the undoubtedly huge lawfirm that represents said 900 dollar an hour hack.
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DOB is writing to an audience that hasn't *necessarily* been following this situation as closely as we have. A lot of his column is spent getting laymen up to speed.
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If Warner had hired Michael Bay to make Watchmen into a mindless POS action flick, or fucking mugged Peter Jackson in a dark alley and jacked his Hobbit script and filmed it, you'd all be screaming "WTF Warners, you can't just fucking steal Fox's intellectual property 'cause you feel like it." But they made something you like, so the rules are different. Idiots. Get out of your mom's basement and get laid.
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Dec. 27, 2008, 1:40 p.m. CST
I don't like FOX either, but that article is factually incorrect
by ZeroC
Fox approached WB before production of the film began to try and negotiate a settlement. WB refused and told FOX they'd take their chances in court. FOX's contract simply stated that it gets first crack at agreeing to produce and distribute a Watchmen movie each time the producer attaches a director/writer to it. The producer got Zach Snyder on board, promptly ignored FOX entirely, and went straight to WB to make it. Had he actually done what he was contractually obligated to do, all he would have had to do was go to FOX first. If they passed on it, WB could then have bought the ENTIRE rights back from FOX for substantially less than they have to pay now for it, and made the movie completely clean. Instead, we now have this cluster-fuck. Oh well. No way do I believe this film is getting delayed ultimately, both studios acted like cocks (although FOX not quite as cock-esque as the news has made them out to be). Either way the viewer won't suffer in the slightest.
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It still seems there's confusion. Quint seemed to think Warners would have to hand over the movie to fox. O'Brian is closer to the truth: either settle, give Fox a big chunk of money to make them go away, or arrange a deal to let fox distribute, entitling them to a chunk of the Gross. It's bad. Unless ofcourse when the court date comes the injunction is lifted because they rule for Warners, (The judge could still evaluate it and go, "you know, Fox did nothing in the furtherance of making this film and didn't sue when they first felt there was a problem.) I'm hoping Warners isn't caught with it's dick in it's hand. I have to assume the lawyers always had a plan B if this happened.<br> <br> and to tweak O'brien's metaphor: It's like if Fox bought Bacon but didn't ever make it. Then, after a few years, (assume this is magical Bacon that always stays fresh,) Warners said, "you aren't making the magical bacon, can I buy it off you?" and Fox goes "Sure, you can buy it and have the rights to cook the Bacon," Then sold it. But while Warner's was walking out the door, Fox yelled something about "still owning the rights to Eat the Bacon," but Warners didn't catch that. Now, that the bacon is finished, there's an argument about who gets to eat it. Or wait, maybe it's who gets to serve to us, and for what fee, nah, screw it.
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Funny and well-put.
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If they don't want to cook it or eat it then that's their choice. Someone can't take their shit, come on!! I don't know why anyone cares anyway. The movie will be released.
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Seriously..keep this shit up. Anyone hungry for dicks?
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Look, I think Fox is a sleazy as the day is long in regards to this. I actually agree with the spirit of what O'Brien is saying. It takes a morally bankrupt business to make a decision like Fox did. But it does take a business. And when it comes down to it in the end, Fox is protecting a business investment.</p> <p></p> <p>Granted, they should've step in long ago to stop the production of this movie. That's what irks me the most about it. Certainly takes Fox down a number of notches in my book and probably gives people a number of pauses about working with them. (Though probably never enough to avoid dealing with the studio altogether.) Really, Fox should'be talked with WB behind-the-scenes during production and settled this before making a public spectacle out of a lawsuit. Would've seemed a lot less greedy and a lot less desperate for a major studio that's obviously hurting for some money.</p> <p></p> <p>I don't really blame Warner Bros. or Paramount for this. Yes, their legal departments should've doggedly pursued all of the matters concerning the rights. However, because Fox didn't stand up and say anything while Paramount was going through all of their pre-production stuff for years throughout the last decade, and then again when WB started production on Snyder's film, I'm sure they had every reason to believe that everything was square with the rights.</p> <p></p> <p>All that said and done, it really doesn't matter. The movie will be released and we'll all probably enjoy it. That's what matters most in the end. If Fox decides to take over distribution solely and that affects the release of the movie, that's the time to really start griping.</p>
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I won't lighten up, that article was incredibly immature and does nothing to bring light to the situation. Warners fucked up, big time. Now they're gonna pay. Get over it.
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"Fox ambushed WB AFTER they FINISHED making the movie. That's what makes FOX the villain in this story." Bullshit. But if by "ambushed" you mean "found the most effective way of fucking Warners in the ass after Warners fucked them in the ass" then you're right.
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Do you know that that happened? I'd love to hear all of the facts on the rights and who spoke to and when everyone spoke to each other.</p> <p></p> <p>Like I said earlier, it doesn't really matter in the long run in relation to the movie itself. I'd just like to know from the legal standpoint.</p>
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The WB and in fact the entire movie industry always tells us to respect the intellectual property rights, and not illegally download movies. Then they steal the rights to an original story and now they want sympathy. Someone will download and distribute the Watchmen while it is out in theaters. If WB says one word they can suck fat dicks.
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and have said they can prove it in court...personally, i dont care...fox sux in all cases, and warner's are fucking tards for allowing the rights of any of their comic book properies for leaving the fold
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Warner Bros had the audacity to make a film that Fox has rights to distribute without even trying to make a collaboration agreement with them. So Fox amusingly observes Warner make this film probably wondering when they will approach them to make a distributin deal. If I were FOX, I would sue every fucking penny. So what if they sat on Watchmen for 20 years. By the way, WB and FOX are both fucking assholes but sometimes they both fucking rock too. Thats Hollywood. For a watchmen fan, this is wretched news but keep an open mind. FOX may not be the villain. But WB may not be the saint you think they are in regards to Watchmen.
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People are freely acknowledging that FOX is completely in the right, legally speaking, but they're not going to let that get in the way of finding an irrational way of making FOX the villain in this matter. This is Warner Brothers' fuckup, not FOX's. It is the job of the studio making the film (Warner Brothers) to make sure they've got all rights issues cleared away. I mean are people seriously claiming that FOX should've given WB a heads up prior to the film getting made? Since when is it a studio's job to make sure a rival studio has done their due diligence?
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with dicks.
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"The producers took a risk by giving Snyder complete creative control and a buttload of money." That right there is why Fox has made nothing but overrated shit for the past couple decades. You could write whole blogs on that line and Fox alone.
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fuck why cant you edit posts?
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Dec. 27, 2008, 2:20 p.m. CST
I agree, but why is this guy talking about dick so much?
by Nate Champion
Does that have something to do with Quint's companionship?
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I'm thinking Prequel Star Wars....Fuck....I just killed my whole argument...OK let them suck dicks. But I think WB is too clever not to foresee this. I think they have an ace up their sleeve. They probably have photos of married FOX chairman playing paddy cake with Jessica Rabbit.
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I say this with the utmost respect for WB in so far as allowing Snyder to put together a movie that looks awesome, but some people act as if WB made this movie as some kind of love letter to the fans of Watchmen. They made it because they thought they'd make a ton of money. WB isn't a charity. WB is a business, and they made an idiotic business decision by not doing the most basic thing a movie studio could do - ensure they had the rights to make and distribute the film. They screwed up. It's not Fox's responsibility to make sure WB doesn't screw up. Fox is WB's competitor, and as such should strike at the most opportune time for them, not WB. I don't know why Harry is getting his panties in a bunch for anyway. WB screwed up and will have to pay for that screw-up, but the film will still get released. I don't put all of this on WB because I like Fox and hate WB. I hate/like them both, just like I would hate/like any other money-grubbing, massive conglomerate reaching into my pockets.
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Eat a dick eh? It'll put hair on your chest. You think articles posted on cracked.com should have a certain level of maturity? Have another dick to suck on while you think it over.
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Anybody else here think Zach Snyder's gonna be the one to take it up the ass on this one?
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...and everyone else saying that WB "stole" someone else's IP: You are incorrect. Not insulting you, simply saying you're wrong. WB OWNS Watchmen, along with all other DC Comics properties not specifically owned by their respective creators (and Watchmen is NOT owned by Moore/Gibbons...in fact, there have been legal rumblings in the past with Moore over this very issue). The problem here is that in the eighties WB granted Fox the rights to produce a Watchmen film--WB didn't "sell" Fox Watchmen, and Fox did not create, nor ever "own" the property--they simply acquired an option to make a movie based on the mini-series/graphic novel. According to WB, those rights expired in the mid-nineties. According to Fox, they did not. Thus, litigation. But no one, anywhere, at all, in any way, is accusing WB of stealing someone's IP. That's not what this is about in any way, shape or form.
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http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/12/judge-in-watchm.html#more It has the most cold hard facts and logical analysis of the whole situation. It also doesn't paint one studio as the bad guy over the other.
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to find a way to screw up a movie they didnt even make.
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Yeah, Rupert Murdoch throws away more before breakfast than any of us will ever acquire.
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Dec. 27, 2008, 2:45 p.m. CST
We should send FOX truckloads of DICKS in protest...
by Yotz Von Frelnik
... if it weren't such a gross and fairly impossible idea. APPEALING in so many ways, definitely... but icky.
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I find it bizarre that Warners would spend untold millions on a film that they don't have the rights to make. At no stage during the films gestation did anyone think to ask ' hey, do we actually have the rights to make this ? '. Fox may have behaved pretty shitty but i really don't think Warners can blame anyone but themselves. People should be angry at Warners as really its their fault NOT Fox's.
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They can be used to adjudicate disputes of law. Everybody's whining that WB fucked up here, but odds on they didn't. Their legal department would have briefed the execs on the situation and the decision would have been made that although there was a possibility that Fox still owned the distribution rights, there was also a possibility that a court would rule in favour of WB. It's pretty obviously not as clear-cut a case as ignorant and/or Fox hating blogs are making it. Both sides think that they've got a chance of winning, or at least getting off easy, otherwise a settlement would have been reached a while back. Once WB has made its case the judge could still just as easily rule in its favour. <p> It's still a dick move on Fox's part, but what else were they going to do? If they made a claim early enough, WB might have shelved the project entirely and Fox wouldn't have received shit, and if they didn't make a claim at all they would never get what they believe they are legally entitled to. To keep using the bacon metaphor, imagine Fox had a way to get a bunch of bacon, but didn't want to do anything with it. The WB is willing to make some burgers with the bacon, so Fox sells the bacon to them, on the condition that Fox also gets a cut from the future sale of the bacon. Years later, WB goes about making and preparing to sell the sandwiches themselves (with the help of Paramount for the international market), so Fox reminds them that they're still owed money. WB have got all these sandwiches, the public want the sandwiches and there's no money to be made holding onto the sandwiches, so what are they gonna do?
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Fox lets WB have the movie, and WB in return forks over the rights to the adam west Batman TV show (which fox already partially owns)..that way we get watchman, and fox can finally go ahead and release batman on DVD...both sides get something they have wanted for a long time and best of all... the fans win!
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...it must speak volumes about how well it is being received. I see both sides as they have the rights, but it seemed more decisive how they waited until the last minute to do anything about it. They probably figured it would tank and wanted nothing to do with it, but since the previews have had nothing but high buzz they want their cut. Shadey indeed and the judge should've taken this into consideration that motive.
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ready to roll. This and x-men origins wolverine. This is going to give other studios a run for their money. They now have two major comic books under thier belts.
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Dec. 27, 2008, 3:23 p.m. CST
If WATCHMEN never see the inside of a theater...
by standundermyumbrella
... I WILL LAUGH MY ASS OFF!!!
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Personally, I'm ready to succumb to the popular money and mouths maxim. I love the medium so damn much, so it'll be hard, but I am ready to dedicate myself to a boycott of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. I might be a little biased against the company but this goes far beyond even what the word reprehensible sums up. The only problem is with the other few potentially great films the studios have in the pipeline. Screw it. I'll sacrifice my experience with Avatar or The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Not because it would show them a thing or two (it won't), but because I just don't want to have anything to do with them. If enough people ban together, maybe, just fucking maybe, Anderson and Cameron and anyone with actual talent will jump ship until a new regime takes over.
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but if fox didnt exist there would be no jack bauer.
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Are a bunch of slimy overpaid lawyers. They're the ones who've made this happen through negligence on Warner's behalf and sheer shit-eating dickness on Fox's, but it's still the fault of some Lawyers not a studio as a whole.<p> Still who gives a shit, Watchmen will still come out next year. Who do I give a fuck who my money goes to? I still pay my cash to the local multiplex. I'm sure that the two biggest movie studios in the world can sort it out between themselves.
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Remeber durin the summer when this first came up. WB wanted to negotiate a settlement with Fox. Fox flat out refused to negotiate, refused money, and said that all they wanted was to halt the release of the film. It was odd. Usually these things are solved with gobs of cash. But so far Fox has refused to negotiate for any settlement whatsoever.
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IP isn't just the property, in itself, but the whole bundle of rights associated with it, including the right to distribute, produce, edit, what have you. If you sell someone (FOX) exclusive rights to distribute, they own those rights. If WB had never sold these right, they would have distribution rights and if I got on Bittorrent and distributed Watchmen before WB they sure as hell would sue me. Hell If I decided to let the chips fall where they may and make a Tent Pole Superman movie, you don't think that the WB would try to block me from putting it in theaters? You think they would not sue me and rightfully get money for it? WB didn't do their homework, and said fuck it. Well this is what happened. What really upsets me is the hypocrisy coming from a major studio.
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Harry just outed Quint!
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no more buying or going to see fox movies. If there is one you HAVE to go see, then sneak in or pirate it...it's absolutely morally right to steal content from a studio that is in effect "stealing" the creative content of another. Hypocrites.
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Dec. 27, 2008, 4:04 p.m. CST
Harry just don't call for a boycott of FOX movies
by standundermyumbrella
You will seriously piss off Cameron. Will that be worth it?
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http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com /2008/12/judge-in-watchm.html - sure, big studios are a bunch-o-jerks but it isnt as slimy a move by fox as most of us are led to believe.
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only in internet form it seems... I thought their crappy magazine being cancelled was the end of it.
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"Feess remarks that during Gordon’s deposition, the producer claimed he couldn’t properly recollect his contract with Fox." Still, the Cracked article is still very funny.
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But WB should eat it's share of dicks too for this fuck up. Amateur's night at the WB legal department. Unbelievable. They were supposed to work all kinds of magic over there like legally forcing Beyoncé to give blowjobs to all senior executives, shady shit like that, and they can't make sure the rights are secured to a 100+ million dollar movie?
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Watchmen looks like a rental. Maybe I'm being crazy though. A couple scenes were cool in the trailer, but I'll wait for some crazy good word-of-mouth before I risk it.
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I mean WB has had the rights for 30 years and hasn't botherd putting a film into production, FOX should just retaliate and go ahead with a GL film<P>i know that sounds like a joke and FOX are dickfaces for this move, but in reality WB is in the wrong here just like FOx would be if they made a green lantern movie<P>case in point...somebody make a fucking green lantern movie already!
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If the WB just let FOX release those damn Adam West Batman DVD's this would all be over.
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The real villain, the Ozymandias of the piece if you will, is LAWRENCE GORDON, who sold and re-sold, packaged and repackaged the rights to Watchmen to ANY players he could (including Universal at one point) until everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else except him. Like Bernard Madoff, Gordon seemed to be engaging in a version of a Ponzi scheme where he was using the same rights over and over to get HIMSELF paid while passing Watchmen around like a $2 hooker at a frat party. Remember, the judge came down hard on Gordon for "failing to remember" the details of rights ownership or his own machinations. I bet Gordon didn't forget which bank account he had Fox, Universal, Warners and God knows who else deposit his fees for the rights. Like Ozymandias, Gordon has you all looking in all the wrong places for blame (Fox, WB, etc) while he is off playing with his genetically altered pussy.
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I totally get what you're saying. But my point--and this is certainly something that WB's lawyers should have verified--is that WB was working under the impression that the option was finite and had expired, and that all rights with regard to this particular IP had reverted back to them. I agree that Gordon is probably the real "villain" here, despite all the Fox bashing (they do suck balls, though...when was the last time Fox produced a good studio film? Indie flicks that they pick up and distribute don't count, e.g The Wrestler, et al). But what I was saying is that this isn't really a case of one company stealing IP from another; it is a case of one company failing to honor a contract regarding said IP that is still valid (or at least Fox alleges it is still valid, and it seems the judge agrees to some degree).
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no one pay a DIME for that movie. if you gotta see it, you download that fucker. And then you spread it to someone else. You spread that torrent like herpies.
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Again, people are kind of missing the point here. Without taking sides, it is as simple as this: Fox does not own Watchmen. Never have. Never will. WB's parent company owns Watchmen, along with all other DC Comics-owned IP. What WB did (and I don't know why...money, I guess) was grant Fox the rights to make a movie out of the Watchmen property back in the eighties. WB believed this option had expired, and O'Brien was simply saying that Fox paid for said option and sat on it for decades without moving forward. But no one stole anyone's IP. I know you're only kidding, but it skews the point of the whole case. If Fox went ahead and made a Green Lantern movie, that would be outright copyright infringement/IP theft, and Fox would be issued a court ordered cease & desist...there would be no trial, because that would be a cut & dried scenario. Green Lantern is owned by WB. Period. But if WB sold Fox the rights to make and distribute a Green Lantern film, and then made and distibuted a GL film themselves, Fox would have a case against them for breach of contract with regard to the film rights Fox had paid for. That is exactly what this case is about.
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...Is STILL laughing his ass off across the pond! Who f*cking cares if it does or doesn't come out! The book will always be greater and better then any film that is made now or in the future. It was meant to be read as a comic. Not as a film. Maybe, God willing, an intern at WB will snag a copy of the work print and put it up on the net before these rich f*cks make a dime off it.
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<p>"Maybe, God willing, an intern at WB will snag a copy of the work print and put it up on the net before these rich f*cks make a dime off it."</p> <p>That would actually be an awesome end to this whole fucking debacle. Who gets the last laugh? For ONCE, the fans...fans who love the comic but also want to see the movie (like me).</p>
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I know you're out there movie-theater projectionist cyber geek. You know what you must do...
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Honestly, calling a mega-corporation like Fox "slimy" is like calling the sun "hot". You have to wonder if Fox and WB's roles were reversed would WB do exactly the same thing... It's business. The first rule is to make money. So of course they would and then of course people here would whine about it and the way they do it. Predictable, predictable, predictable.
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Go and visit FOX headquarters please and demonstrate your awesome super laser on them. Seen that video where the guy pops balloons with his laser? Replace those balloons with the heads of the FOX execs, and let's make the world a better place for all.
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Huh? Huh? Are you under the false impression you get to relax over the holidays??
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...Is why WB (my favorite studio) didn't do the research to make sure that the rights issue had been taken care of before charging forward with making the movie. Someone really screwed up at WB if you ask me. What Fox is doing is sleazy and underhanded but WB dropped the ball on this one.
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Is that Alan Moore REALLY IS A MAGICIAN!!! OOOHH NOOOOOES!!!
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woah, now that IS NEWS
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It kind of had a Dr. Sues flare to it.
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Dec. 27, 2008, 6:44 p.m. CST
Thomas Edgar Rothman is the biggest asshole in Hollywood.
by Leafar the Lost
Its official now. That title keeps being passed on to different people, but now it rests with Tommy Rothman. I hope the Watchman movie never comes out now. Fuck you, Rothman, for putting out shitty movies like "X-Men: the Last Stand", "Alien v. Predator", and "Live Free or Die Hard". All of those movies are pieces of shit, just like you Rothman. Oh, and your wife (Jessica Harper) is a horrible actress.
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A bunch of millionaires are yelling at another bunch of millionaires about who gets to make the most millions off this property. Baseball players and owners realized the public doesn't identify with such disputes, and hence, the last baseball strike was averted. If actors strike against producers for a bigger cut of derivative revenue, the public will likely have the same reaction. The real legal argument here (made by an older non-lawyer) is mitigation of damages. Fox was obliged to file to halt production as soon as it was clear WB was compromising their supposed rights, and letting the film proceed with no action is tantamount to letting the water drip into your house and destroy everything rather than plug a leak in your roof. You can't claim the whole amount, because you did not take action at the appropriate time. The Watchmen appeal will center around this issue, mark my words. Or it will be settled, and the movie co-distributed.
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When Alan Moore agreed to write Watchmen for DC (owned by WB), they made an agreement. WB owns Watchmen, and after a certain number of years, when it's out of print, rights revert to Alan Moore. However, after almost THREE DECADES, Watchmen has NEVER been out of print and Alan Moore will NEVER get his creation back. WB is completely in its legal rights, but Alan Moore feels regally screwed anyway.So Alan Moore took his name off the movie. He wants it off the comic books too. At least that's the way I understand it. Oh yeah, there's also the creators of Superman, Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, and their battle with DC (owned by WB) has been going on since 1947, and only partly resolved this March, 2008. To quote Traffic, "No one gets away clean".
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The person who has this right is ZeroC and his post above, who correctly notes that the production of WATCHMEN has always been a clusterfuck due to perpetual turnarounds, with talent coming and going over the years, and with multiple studios having their hands in the cookie jar at one time or another. And he's right about Warner taking an aggressive and yet legally fucked up attitude that somehow (possibly because they ridiculously believed that since they own DC, who published the comic) that all rights ultimately fell back to them somehow, someway. And ZeroC is right again in noting that even when THIS particular production was greenlit that there was a flurry of paperwork tossed back and forth, with Fox even THEN coming forward and saying they still held distribution rights. Hell, I remember reading tidbits on that at the time, at assorted entertainment web spots, and when the film finally went into production I just ASSUMED that meant that Warner Bros' legal department had actually earned their paychecks and actually done their homework about "who" owned "what" completely. But to find out now that they fucked up royally -- whether through sheer studio arrogance or just plain stupidity and incompetence -- just makes me laugh. Warners has only gotten what they deserve.<p>And for crying out loud, those who think Fox is the villain because they waited till the film was in the can to spring their move need to seriously snap out of it and join the rest of us in reality with regards to how the real world ACTUALLY works, at least business wise. Why the hell do you think Marvel publishes Captain Marvel and DC now publishes Shazam? Gee, how about because one day when the trademark renewal papers were due, DC legal forgot to file things on time...Marvel noticed it...at which point they swooped in and seized ownership of the name, even though they knew DC still had plans to obviously continue with more Captain Marvel comics themselves.<p>So pop quiz: with that in mind, are you willing to openly declare that Marvel is the exact same type of cocksucker that you're now saying Fox is? That they should just hand back the full name and trademark of "Captain Marvel" to DC, all the while saying "Yeah, we know it was a dick-ish thing to do. We're sorry." Or in the real world, do you think the Marvel brass is going to give you a frowning look and simply say "Fuck you. We saw an opening and we took it. Now take a hike. Welcome to the wonderful world of business."<p>Oh, and by the way -- before you feel so sorry for Warner Bros being blindsided over this WATCHMEN stuff and shed your tears for them, by feeling they're the "non-guilty" studio who is the victim of Fox's greed over money, keep in mind Warner's is also the very same studio who just this week notified CBS that they now want them to fork over $50 MILLION for money they feel they're due on TWO AND A HALF MEN, based on the way the original paperwork was written up years ago. Yeah, that's right. The show been on for YEARS now and yet suddenly NOW...yes, just like Fox and well after the fact...suddenly now they come knocking and say, "Hey, we just noticed you're sitting on a big pile of cash there. So, we dug up some old paperwork and have decided we want some of that pie too."<p>Frankly, I want to see WATCHMEN as much as the next geek, though with no squid and the fucked-up revised Snyder ending that we've all heard about it, it will still shit a bit. But I don't blame Fox for legally protecting what belonged to them ALL ALONG or for having the simple smarts to act when the time was most advantageous to them and it would literally FORCE Warners to deal with them. Especially since Warners has been blowing them off since the start, feeling they could just railroad this movie through and reneg on the deal THEY made to begin with. Seriously, if you were an exec at Fox -- or any other studio for that matter (to leave your hate for Rothman or Fox out of this entirely) and you KNEW you had the full legal rights to distribute this movie...I mean, the paperwork was just staring you in the face on your desk...are you actually going to tell me you'd just throw that paperwork in the trash can and say "Ah, nevermind" or would you be on the phone with Warner or a judge saying "Hey! Wait a minute!" Anyone with half a brain or a mind for proper business finances would clearly be picking the latter.
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If the studio is really that dumb then they deserve this. They either knew, which is not good, or they didn't know it which is scary for a studio of that nature. <p>Also, I agree with quentintarantado. Karma is a bitch.
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Had me laughing so hard I cried. "But I won't be able to hear you. BECAUSE OF ALL THE DICKS." LOL. This DOB is a funny motherfucker. Point made.
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http://www.petitiononline.com/watchrr/petition.html
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http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-6-motion-captured/posts/2008-12-26-worst-christmas-present-ever-from-fox That site is horribly formatted, by the way. Gives me a headache.
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That was the the most whining pissy blog I've ever read. Boo-hoo Fox wasn't going to make a movie. Boo-hoo Warner Bros. did even though they knew they didn't have the distribution rights. Fox approached Warner Bros. at the beginning and made it clear that they felt they owned the distribution rights. Warner Bros. gambled )and lost)that the courts would side with them. This is just an affirmation of copyright law and frankly, we should be happy in the long run that this is the initial decision. Yes, you'll get your precious movie and Fox wioll make a ton of money off of it. So what? Warner Bros. made this bed, not Fox.
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Also if this quandary was about the rights to "Yes Man 2". And Fox had the rights and WB Produced the thing, no one would bat an eye, and neither studio would be told to suck cocks
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A nice FUCK YOU for helping kill HD-DVD. <p> Ha Ha!
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"Really? Jesus reads Cracked? Really? Huh."
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If FOX had made the movie 20 years ago, we'd have something that looks like Howard the Duck....
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at my local bookstore so I picked it up. Great book.
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Maybe Fox will just walk away. After all, their method of choosing films to distribute wavers between "flavor of the week" and "monkey with a dartboard."
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and eat all the dicks is one of my favorite phrases ive heard in 2008. oh and who new cracked had funny writers working for them?
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Check out how they break some of these films apart- especially Dark Knight and BTTF- classic stuff
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Well, its a good thing copyright law has you to protect it. I think the "point" here is that Fox is essentially cashing in on the work of others. Legally protected or not (and I agree that Fox is in the legal right), what Fox is doing is really sleazy. Warners did take a chance and hope Fox would let it slide, but what Fox is doing is pretty lame, and you know it. Sitting on a project, and then calling the attorneys when it looks like someone else is going to knock your project out of the park is a bitch move. Also, I think the fans were worried that, because of the vast sums of money WB will have to pony up, they would decide simply to shelve the movie. So relax there Judge Dredd. The law prevailed, but traditional notions of fair play are once again getting fucked in the ass.
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...but it sure smells good!
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I have to go back and read the article now. The title made me LMAO. Really sums it up, yes?
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Warner's and Fox are not actual people, they are huge companies run by people. None of these guys believe in fair play, so don't fantasize that WB is the good guy, or they are downtrodden. and WB didn't take much of a gamble. Look at the reaction that its getting from the fanboys here. I say it again, if this was marley and me 2, you wouldn't even be discussing this
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GODDAMNIT. Yeah Leafar, she really sucks. She only happened to be the lead in, hmm, I don't know, two of the best movies ever.
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That article was hilarious!
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Why not boycott watchmen when it comes out, if Fox tries to distribute it?
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...that was a fabulously written bit of Gen-X Andy Rooney-ism. And regardless of the facts in this particular instance, Fox really should be forced to eat all the dicks. Every single one. Even Ann Coulter's.
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Reason? Because the population who is so pissed off over this they're willing to boycott Wolverine PALES in comparison to the Mainstream Public who cant wait to see dreamy Hugh Jackman back since the fun mutant romp that is X3. Boycotting Watchmen wont do shit. This is only Free Publicity and next year EVERYONE will see this. "Whats all the hoopla about? Better see for myself.." There is no way to stop FOX. It is not doable. Save Yourself instead and make ALL Boycotts personal.
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Dec. 27, 2008, 10:11 p.m. CST
I loved Jessica Harper in "Phantom of the Paradise"...
by Leafar the Lost
...oh yes, definately,Tommy Rothman's wife was brillant in that one. Here are my favorite lines from it: The music made him do it! He's been maimed and framed, beaten, robbed and mutilated. But they still can't keep him from the woman he loves. The Most Highly Acclaimed Horror Phantasy Of Our Time. He Sold His Soul for Rock 'n' Roll.
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I pretty much never watch anything by them anyway, whether it's TV, movies, or radio. Eat dicks Fox!
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DOB wants Fox to EAT ALL of the dicks. Don't you get it? He wants Fox to consume every single dick in existence. I don't know about most of you, but I actually have one of these things, and I'm not too keen on anyone or any entity chewing and gobbling up my dick. In my mind, DOB has betrayed me and my dick. Therefore he should go suck some fat, hairy balls and leave my dick out of this nonsense. Please note, I said fat, hairy balls, not fat Harry's balls. I would never disrespect Quint.
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The only people you should be pissed at are WB's legal department. *They* are the ones who fucked up, and therefore *they* are the reason we have a legal shitfest. Don't blame Fox for doing something ANY ONE OF US WITH A BRAIN WOULD HAVE DONE!
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It's called running a business, you hippy fucks. Yes I suppose Fox should have forgone they're legal rights in this matter in order to help the underprivelaged conglomerates out there. Idiots.
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It's a lot of whiny fanboy jabbering. Fox was smart to let the movie be made and THEN sue just before the release. WHO THE FUCK WOULDN'T DO THAT? I'll tell you who, a whiny comic book fan wouldn't, but then most of them aren't successful business men. Nothing bad or dishonest was done by Fox. But WB's legal department apparently is asleep at the wheel. OR MORE LIKELY: WB knew that FOX has legitimate rights but didn't care because they knew that the matter would just be settled, if it ever came up, financially. So, really, getting all upset by this is just silly. You will get to see your "men in capes" movie. Just relax everyone.
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Thank you for that article. That certainly clears up some questions I had in Fox's handling of the situation.
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Dec. 28, 2008, 12:30 a.m. CST
'It's called running a business, you hippy fucks' retarde commen
by quantize
Really...as moronic as it gets.
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I do know that in the case of copyright (and please, don't be masters of the obvious and remind me what I already know... that this has very little to do with copyright, if any) if you do not defend it when you are aware that it's being infringed, your ability and right to "crack down" later on is diminished(but not eliminated). I find it kind of odd that in the case of an "option", the same is not true. There is obvious intention on the part of Fox to pull a last minute move on PURPOSE, which would indicate intent to cause harm rather than to protect it's investment. HOWEVER, I find Warner Brothers to be INFINITELY STUPID for not knowing that this could happen OR going ahead anyway. It makes me wonder if there could be a counter-suit in regard to information that certain parties may have held onto, or whether there was someone inside WB in the position to withhold the information on behalf of Fox and did so with intent to harm WB. I just get the feeling that something smells bad here. People do not spend millions making a film they know they do not have the rights to. And "they did it because they could do it" just doesn't cut it in regard to Fox. Sorry, you can suck Fox off until the cows come home and nothing changes the fact that what they did was done with malice. And there's no such thing as "oops" when it comes to companies this large. Unless they break the law, then it's always "oops". There was just nothing "in it" for WB to overlook it, no advantage. Paying Fox in advance would have been significantly cheaper.
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Join us over on the LOST watchback talkback!! NAMASTE
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On my way my friend.
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That's some tough talk for someone tonsil-deep with dicks. Oh.. I forgot, I'm a hippie... so I should have added a "brah" at the end. If I were a hippie, I'd be proud to be hated by people like you though. Suck my socialism.
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Very funny stuff. Let the photoshopping of lots of dicks jammed in Murdoch's and Rothman's mouths begin!
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All of the majors are all mega corporate, greedy and ultra-paranoid. What confounds me is WHAT THE HELL WAS WARNER BROS THINKING? How could such a project get greenlit, developed, shot and canned without ever making sure that the rights were first secured; especially for such a well known property. Warner Bros is just as nasty and greedy and fucked up as Fox, Disney, Universal and Sony. They all deserved to be reemed as a result of their own arrogance. If this piece is as great as the hype indicates, rest assured Watchmen geeks, it will eventually get released
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You really are right. But there are enough dicks to go around for both of them.
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Sitting on my desk shelf and just wanted to let all you know that the book is safe and sound.
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The one good thing which could come out of this is it sheds light on the idea that if something is legal it is also moral. Morality is about the difference right and wrong-it is unchangeable and not determined by man. Legal is what under the law is allowed (or what you can get away with for the morally bankrupt.)
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I like your analogy. Considering DC sued the shit out of Fawcett comics claiming Captain Marvel was a copy of Superman, effectively putting Fawcett out of business, and then bought the Fawcett characters, I don't feel too sorry for them when Marvel fucked them on the rights to the Captain Marvel name.
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What the hell? Why is Slyvester P. Symthe running a blog website now? Really? You don't pick up a Cracked magazine for over a decade and look what happens.
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Fox is doing what any business would do. Harry and others can't understand that because they have a major hard on for naked blue men. Oh, and the article added nothing to the discussion. Thanks, Harry.
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Warner's Jew lawyers. I am with the Fuck Fox bandwagon but c'mon. It's not like WB are a bunch of angels on OUR side. I'm sure they are sitting back saying "I wish I was the one that did it". It just means that WB merchandise is going up in price.
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"We want to see Dr. Manhattan’s glorious, blue genitals majestically flopping on the big screen." <br> No. .. not exactly what I want to see.
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Fair play? Sorry, but WB or any other company is on crack if they think someone is going to "let it slide". Everyone is under the misconception that Fox sprang this on WB, when that simply isn't the truth. Sure it sucks for Watchmen fans, but really, I'd blame part of this mess on whoever it was that was dumb enough to sell the distribution rghts to Fox. Someone should have had a clue and had a clause written in that said if a movie isn't made by such as such a date then the rights revert to the owner (like what would have happened with Queen of the Damned). Obviously they didn't do that. So I know the law got in the way of the talkbackers wank fest, but there is no moral ambiguity to it. Fox holds the distribution rights and the WB is going to have to pay Fox for it. I fail to see why Fox is the "bad guy" in this case.
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Wolverine is going to bomb anyway, if you really want to hurt them then that is the Movie to go after.<BR><BR> With its release so far off there will be plenty of time to organise a real hate campaign.<BR><BR> Its about time Fox were shat on by the collective fandom community, give these fuckers a taste of ther own medicine.
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You get 100 bonus points and control of the board for the racial stereo type of the day.
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aka TRICKY DICK!
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Damn FOX!
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nuff said
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First they thought they could slip this by FOX AGAIN after they didnt get away with it on Dukes of Hazzard. They are being the dicks over the Batman DVD's. They are the ones that kept Batman out of Smallville. They kept Two-Face, Scarecrow, and Ra's al Ghul out of the Batman cartoon and all Batman villians out of JLU because it would be "too confusing". Ditto with Gotham Central. Then there is the Superman rights debacle. Also the complete inability to make a decent super hero movie that is not Batman. They poached Bryan Singer off X-Men 3 and we all know how well that turned out. WB are hardly the heroes or even the victims in any of this. In fact they have disappointed geeks much more than FOX have whether or not they know it. They are both evil and we have to suffer for it.
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It's simple boycott Fox movies. THen they will dry up and die as they should. (unless they get a Federal bailout of course.)
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... but FOX is right. I mean, didn't the WB executives actually READ the contract when they acquired the rights to make the movie, in which Fox retained the rights to distribute the film. Look, I despise Fox as much as anyone, but someone should be fired in WB for greenlighting a project like this without taking that in mind.
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LoukS Dhe DeCs FoKEt The Csw FOKS
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James Cameron is going the way of all the other old, over hyped directors, spielberg, scott, lucas, etc. Any magic he had in the 80's 90's will be gone.
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Fox gets nothing. But we still get a great film.
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Dec. 28, 2008, 2:32 p.m. CST
If it wasn't for Star Wars there wouldn't be any of these
by wookie1972
movies. period. Star Wars invented modern FX as we know it, making all this other stuff possible.Not that Fox had a lot to do with it, but they did pony up the dough in the first place.
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on Watchmen - well, Warners didn't take any risk on the Batman TV show,and they're holding up that one. In fact, the only reason Warners has any of these properties is because they bought them. Remember, this is the company that had to be shamed into even CREDITING Siegel and Shuster for Superman. They can be just as big corporate assholes as Fox.
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god i fucking hate when someone says "if it wasn't for this, this wouldn't have happened", as if anyone could ever know that, as if these fuckers can time travel or some shit, or have access to alternate universes. fucking nerds.
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Studios were cutting back or even closing their FX shops before Star Wars. That's not speculation, it's fact. Sure, there may have been some other movie to do that, but Fox really took a risk with Lucas, whereas Warners just lucked onto Watchmen by buying DC.
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Were there plans for a Gotham Central series and was it canned? If so, that's a shame. The point is that neither Warners nor Fox really did much of anything to earn this "intellectual property" other than put up money. DC didn't even create Watchmen in the first place - they more or less bought the characters from Charlton (when is Ditko going to sue?)
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Was gonna type something but ran out of time. I need to go see my IP lawyer to make sure bitching on the internet hasn't been trademarked by J.K. Rowling, White-Wolf, Fox, Arkham House, Warner Bros, Microsoft, Apple, or something like that. OMFG! I think MPAA or the RIAA is here. I gotta g---..... Ignore this. IT WAS A GAG. The agitator is neutralized.
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I wouldn't mind being Fox's proxy when it came down to eating dicks. YUM!
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I feel differently... I DO want to see "Dr. Manhattan’s glorious, blue genitals majestically flopping on the big screen." flop-flop-flop
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jus upload the finished edit of the film online and watch the crying start.
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The articles appear a bit darker and more biting.
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Boycott Fox? You and what army of millions of non-geeks that descends upon the theaters whenever they see a trailer for some piece of nonsense that seems vaguely entertaining? A geek boycott is not going to cost Fox more than a some tens of millions of dollars. Fox laughs at that kind of money. That's ass wipe for Murdoch.
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Ed Brubaker gave an interview a few years ago that said people at the WB were talking about it around 2003. I think that was the starting point of all the craziness around Batman characters. According to Brubaker they would have done it but the WB was burned by Birds of Prey and wanted to put everything into Batman Begins. Even though they hit the Batman movies out of the park, the moritorium on Batman characters (and Smallville appearances) was assanine.
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Why bother? No one has been going to see their movies this year anyway. No one could do more damage than FOX has done to itself. Might as well tell everyone to boycott HD DVD.
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Although I heartily agree Fox sucks, what the fuck were Warner thinking making a film of something they didn't secure the rights to and Fox did? The O'Brien narrative seems to ignore that and just focuses on how bad fox are for not making the film and how good Warner are for making it.
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Man, that sucks, I love Gotham Central. Of course, Birds Of Prey bombed because it pretty much sucked.
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I agree
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...this falls directly on the idiots at Warners; did they really think this wouldn't happen? If so they need to hire a completely new legal department.
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"Watchmen" is booooooorinnnnnnnng! What a dry POS!
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Lawrence Gordon screwed everybody here.
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...so they took action. That's what I'm hearing from the inside.
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Fox is perfectly within their rights to sue. And Warner Brothers fucked up BIG TIME by not seeking the rights ahead of time. How could they have possibly thought they would get away with it. On the flip side of that coin, Fox *is* ethically in the wrong for waiting so long to pull the litigation card. Total dick move. Oh, and before I forget: Michael Bay sucks ass.
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has the dam film rights to Watchmen or at least cleared it with Fox. Warners are the ones who stuffed up. Fox are just being nasty - sure. Yet ignorance is not an excuse.
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Birds of Prey also failed because of the shitty casting and dumb writing. Black Canary was never so young and wasn't a telepath. Oracle and Huntress were great, but tying Huntress to Batman/Catwoman only confused viewers(and comics readers before they changed her origins). A NIGHTWING series would work, but only if it stayed faithful to continuity and had guest heroes/villians who weren't cheesy or had crappy knockoff costumes. Tie it into the Green Arrow mythos and you could have Dick Grayson fighting alongside Connor Hawke or Arsenal and make it a martial arts/super hero show.
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...sucks cock by choice. Just thought youd all want to know. FUCK FOX
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WB screwed everyone over by not properly acquiring rights to the property. WB gave the director, actors, and everyone else the shaft when they said, "yeah, we're handling all that rights stuff" and then didn't. Are you maniacs suggetsing that WB reap benefit from being so incredibly wrong? Or that FOX, who took all the proper steps (even if it was 20 years ago) should get nothing? How in the world is that fair? Face it, the only reasons you people side with WB on this is because 1) the movie is looking good and 2) things named FOX are the current Enemy of the State in America. Zack Snyder will still get paid, you'll still see the movie, and a message will be sent to the industry that copyright law is important and not to be scoffed at. EFF THE WB!
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Warner Brothers didn't just up and say "Hey, we're going to make a Watchmen movie." Someone (porbably many people) were paid for the rights to make this film, both by the production company and WB. Whether it was DC or the original writer, money changed hands...and it looks like that is what the legal question will come down to. Who sold (despite having no legal claim) the distibution rights? IF WB was duped and it can be proven so, Fox will get no money from WB, rather they will have to take action against the person who "sold" the rights to gain any financial losses.
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1. Fox owned something<p> 2. Warner Brothers stole it<p> 3. Fox is wrong for taking legal action against this theft because, well, because some guy working for a mostly failed Mad Magazine knock-off, says he's the smartest guy in the room.<p> 4. O'Brien is a closeted faggot whose obsession with eating dicks would make Liberache uncomfortable.
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