karl51 wrote:
Steve has said multiple times over the years that he's not interested in royalties for Spider-Man and a lot of other stuff.  The "In Search of Steve Ditko" documentary asserted that Ditko accepted no royalties.  It was widely reported that Ditko turned down any money for the Spider-Man movies, and the Amazing Fantasy #15 original artwork (that ended up being donated to the Library of Congress) was offered first to Steve and his response was "not interested".  Jim Shooter alleged that Ditko told him (in the 1970s or 1980s) that Ditko felt that he wasn't owed any royalties for reprints under his "contract" with Marvel, and that he would honor that "contract".  However, Shooter also claimed that Ditko said he wouldn't necessarily object to Marvel being "generous".
Where has Ditko said that he is not interested in receiving reprint royalties?  Can you cite one instance, much less multiple ones over the years?

Can you cite a source for the claim that Ditko was offered money for the first Spider-Man movie and turned it down?  I've seen that claimed a lot, never sourced, and I think it's likely an urban legend.  Given the fact Stan Lee had to sue to receive the Spider-Man film money to which he was contractually entitled, I think it's quite unlikely that the film studio would go ahead and offer money to Ditko completely unsolicited.  I'll happily admit I'm wrong though if you can provide a source.

Alex has debunked the AF #15 original art story above already.

Where did Shooter say Ditko is not interested in reprint royalties?  I'm aware of Shooter's blog posting here (http://www.jimshooter.com...ooter-editor-in_30.html) where he reports that Ditko said he "agreed to the deal, or the standard terms that were in place then and he would not renege" but "if Marvel chose to be generous, fine."  In context, it is clear Ditko is is not talking specifically about reprint royalties, but any sort of payment for past work.  He is saying that he has no intention to actively pursue character ownership, profit participation, or any other money from Marvel for past work.  But he says he would accept money for such things if Marvel chose to "be generous" and offer it to him unsolicited.  Given that, it seems pretty clear he would accept reprint royalties if they were sent to him. 

The fact that Ditko won't do things most other people in his shoes would do to get money doesn't mean he doesn't like money, or that he doesn't want to get paid.

Last Edited By: czeskleba Jul 31 11 2:10 AM. Edited 2 times.