Question Is the artist also under copyright / legal obligation

Genuine question.
And sorry in advance if this is inappopriate place to ask.
I'm reading a series which a lot of people hated the novel's ending. The novel is also being drawn as a webtoon and people are hoping that the bad ending will be reversed. I was wondering if the artist is allowed to do this i.e. reversing the ending. I'm under the impression that the webtoon is still copyrighted and author retains the IP (as any written work). Or the publisher of the novel might get involved?

Anybody knows?

 

i feel like this is that Girl the Wild's webtoon, isnt it? Edit:misread post ignore this

 

If the author and publisher give permission, the artist is free to change it. Haven't you seen many types of manga adaptations where the story diverges at points? For instance, Mashiroiro Symphony, Sana's route. The light novel had a heart twisting family story. But I personally preferred the manga version, Wind of Silk, which gave an alternate ending to the anime and didn't deal with the family stuff.

That said, if the author really liked the sh*tty ending, then it's not happening.

 

Considering how unfaithful most webtoons are to the source material, I am guessing that there is no obligation to slavishly follow the author's story. It's probably a simple buyout of the exclusive right to the story for use in a webtoon.

 

have you seen akame ga kill?
anime ended on a different note compared to the original(manga)

same for sousei no omnughewktghn (i cant spell that)


anyways, they can change it if the contract allows it

 

Fan fic incoming

 

It depends entirely on the specific circumstances. The original author (or whoever owns the copyright) can give someone a license to publish an adaptation, and that license might give entirely free reign to do whatever they want, or it might come with all sorts of restrictions. Or the rights can be transferred entirely, so the original author doesn't have the copyright.

 

Let me know if you find an anime or manga that's even remotely similar to the original novel...

 

But the webtoon has ended already, right?
Also, what's the ending? I didn't read it till the end. The mc trained so hard but still a pushover...

 

I have seen some changes from manga to anime. Pretty much every major title gets the treatment. I just want to confirm if the same principle applies. Wasnt sure about the nature of webtoons, in particular

 

(gulp)

 

It should be the same principle. I don't see webtoons being different enough from established formats to warrant a new kind of licensing scheme.

 

Webtoons are no different from other mediums. Even Game of Thrones differs a ton from the books. It's up to the author or the company depending on the contract as people have pointed out.

 

Haven't read it but I don't think there's too much difference in Bunny Girl Senpai novels and anime.

 

This is interesting. I'm just curious since most novels to webtoons have different authors and artists. As far as I know, manga authors are usually the artist themselves. Not always, but most of the time. Then as you said, webtoons are a bit unfaithful, especially when it comes to details. I thought the change of ending will be a deal-breaker since everybody wants to know what happens and at the very least, considered as canon. .

 

I misread the post

 

Well manga authors draw the manga themselves unless it's a collab between a good writer and a better artist. One punch man is a good example with ONE being the story writer while Murata is the amazing artist.

A better example for the type of question you're asking is the manga adaptations that promote Light Novels. The company publishing the LN are the ones who hire an artist who works separately from the LN author. There's a reason the majority of those manga adaptations are very bland and rushed with large missing chunks or important details.

The CN adaptations however are the wild wild west with shitty cheap artists and basically no real editors to keep the story consistent to the source material. After reading a few of those manga adaptations you will start noticing how shitty they look (derpy eyes every page) especially in comparison to webtoon originals both western and Koreans.

 

Depends on who holds the intellectual rights over the webtoon. If it's a partnership between the author and the artist, it requires either one to give consent, as each is considered a copyright holder by its own right. However, if the other partner objects, the artist can still be sued for various reasons, such as denial of income or loss of revenue. It won't be a fight over copyright.

If the intellectual rights were handed over to the publishing company, such as what's happening to exclusives on Qidian, the publisher has full rights over what they can and can't do. This means that in general, the author and the artist can do whatever they want, but if the publisher refuses or rejects the act, they cannot proceed or if they do proceed, the publishing company has the right to sue them for breaking contract.

What some people do though, is make a separate manga/side story where the ending is changed. They will usually have different names compared to the original, but is marketed as 'alternative ending'. In this case, the artist can escape prosecution as it does not affect the true ending.

If the copyright lies solely in the author and the artist is just hired by the author or the publishing company to draw it though, like in the case of Japanese manga adaptations, the artist has no legal rights over the manga, except where their drawing is concerned. The concern is that unless they are properly paid for their work, the publisher or the author is not allowed to use their art, but that's it. They have no right over the story itself.

 

It really depends how the contract is written. There are plenty of times, where the author has no IP rights to the story, since the company hired him to write a story for them.