More Archie Sonic Copyright Claims Filed by Scott Shaw Uncovered

We said last month that a single copyright claim made by former Archie Sonic comic staffer Scott Shaw accepted into the US Copyright Office likely would not be the last, and we were right.  TSSZ has uncovered five more claims Shaw made with the office concerning work he produced early on in the series, all of which have been accepted by the office.

It is the latest wrinkle in an unraveling scenario involving the earlier Archie Sonic era and the employment status of many of the era’s players.  Ken Penders was the first to lay claim to his series contributions via numerous accepted filings with the Copyright Office.  He is presently in the middle of a civil suit in federal court where Archie has challenged the legitimacy of those claims.

Shaw’s registered works this time around involve “2D artwork” he created for the original 1993 Archie Sonic mini-series issues 0 through 3, and the main Sonic issue #50.   Shaw lays a co-authorship claim to interior art inside the original 1993 Sonic comic #0, #1 and #2,  co-authorship on cover art to the entire mini-series, and “the parody pin-up art” featured in 1997’s Sonic #50.  The first claim we found pertained to the Sonic In Your Face! special from 1995.

In all the claims, Shaw is careful not to claim anything pre-existing, including “characters owned and trademarked by Sega, or any editorial or advertising material published within the pages of the same magazine.”  In all but one of the newly discovered claims, either ex-Sonic comic staffer Michael Gallagher, Daryl Edelman, or both are listed with Shaw on the notice.
As before, TSSZ has elected not to publish the details of the claims verbatim, as they contain personally sensitive information.

Shaw has stated in an affidavit in the ongoing Archie v. Penders dispute that he and several others, like Penders, were not bound to a work-for-hire agreement during their time on the comics.  If nothing else, this may mean that even if the case with Penders is resolved soon, Archie’s legal troubles could be far from over.

We will continue to afford more developments on these and related matters as warranted.

This post was originally written for TSSZ News.