The Walking Dead- War of the Creators!

In a story being reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Robert Kirkman, famed writer/creator of The Walking Dead is being sued by co-creator and original series artist Tony Moore for upwards of half of profits from the cable and comic publishing franchise.

From the article:

In the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by THR, Moore says he was duped into assigning his interest in the material over to Kirkman, who has since gone on to fame and fortune. Moore, on the other hand, has received very little compensation and has not be able to access profit statements from propoerties including Walking Dead, he says.

"Each of these works was prepared by [Moore] and Kirkman with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or independent parts of a unitary whole," the complaint states. "[Moore] and Kirkman were thus joint authors and co-owners of the copyrights in these works."

According to THR Moore is claiming that he has not seen much revenue at all from the book or series and that Kirkman and his company have not provided him with profit statements or access to the books or records.

 Moore claims that in 2005, Kirkman and his agents devised a scheme to fraudulently induce him to assign his copyright interests over to Kirkman's company. Moore, who grew up with Kirkman and worked together on several projects, claims he signed a deal granting him 60 percent of "Comic Publishing Net Proceeds" in connection with Walking Dead and another project called Brit; 20 percent of "motion picture net proceeds" in connection withWalking Dead and Brit; and 50 percent of "motion picture net proceeds" from another project called Battle Pope.

 Moore claims he was told in 2005 by Kirkman that a big TV deal was on the table but "that Kirkman would not be able to complete the deal unless [Moore] assigned all of his interest in the Walking Dead and other works to Kirkman," according to the complaint. Thinking the deal would fall apart, Moore signed the contract, he says, allowing Kirkman to "swindle" him out of his 50 percent interest in the copyright and never intending to pay him his share of royalties.

Kirkman's lawyers have issued a statement is response to this suit:

"The case is totally frivolous. Mr. Moore is owed no money at all. And Mr. Moore's contract has an attorneys' fees clause in it so we will be going after him to collect attorneys' fees. We are taking this matter very seriously." 

*** To see the complete legal documents that were filed in this case please follow THIS LINK.