Artist Tony Moore Sues For Co-Authorship Of “The Walking Dead”

Only a few months after suing longtime collaborator Robert Kirkman over the proceeds to The Walking Dead, artist Tony Moore is asking a federal court to declare him co-author of the lucrative horror franchise along with several other comic-book properties, according to website CBR. In a complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Moore is seeking a judgement that he is joint author of  The Walking Dead, as well as Battle Pope, Brit and two potential comics series, Dead Planet and My Name Is Abraham.

Moore, who started  The Walking Dead with Robert Kirkman back in 2003 and drew the first six issues, filed his lawsuit in February, saying that Kirkman  fraudulently induced him to sign over his copyright interests in the comic back in 2005 so that Kirkman would be able to complete “a large deal” for what would eventually become The Walking Dead television series. In exchange, Moore was granted 60 percent of  comic publishing net proceeds and 20 percent of  motion picture net proceeds for The Walking Dead and Brit, and 50 percent of “motion picture net proceeds” from Battle Pope. However, Moore alleges that he “has not received the proper amount of royalties owed to him,” and has never been permitted access to financial records. Robert Kirkman has already responded back, saying that the whole lawsuit is “ridiculous”. Moore fired back with “Kirkman is a proud liar and fraudster who freely admits that he has no qualms about misrepresenting material facts in order to consummate business transactions, and it is precisely that illicit conduct which led to the present lawsuit” Ouch. (girls, you both pretty.) Moore is asking for a jury trial for this case, so expect to hear  a lot more about it in the months to come.