'Walking Dead' Creator Robert Kirkman Sued Again Over Authorship
"Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman is again slapped with a lawsuit over the authorship of the successful comic series that has spun an equally popular television series.
Kirkman is once again sued by Tony Moore, his former illustrator and childhood friend. Moore previously sued Krikman for the the payment of royalty over the "Walking Dead". Now, he is seeking a declaratory judgement over his co-authorship of the "Walking Dead" and other works like "Battle Pope", "Brit", "Dead Planet" and "My Name Is Abraham".
Moore called Kirkman a "proud liar" in the complaint he filed last Tuesday, August 7, before the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
"[Kirkman is] a fraudster who freely admits that he has no qualm about misrepresenting material facts in order to consummate business transactions, and it is precisely that illicit conduct which led to the present lawsuit," said Moore.
Once Moore obtained such declaratory judgement, he will then avail of his rights as co-author, to proceeds generated from the works.
On the other hand, Allen Grodzky, Kirkman's attorney, dismissed the new lawsuit.
"His lawyer finally realized, 'Oh crap, we filed in the wrong place'," said Grodsky.
"Our position is that it is never going to get to that issue because he is never going to be able to show fraud, plus the statute of limitations on co-ownership has passed. Also, he's not a co-owner."
Kirman had filed a counter-suit against Moore claiming he actually overpaid the latter. He had previously sued Moore for breach of contract, insisting that Moore received payment fro his work and royalty from the Walking Dead series.