Old Kreator artist not being payed royalties

"Finally, this year, I assured them for the fourth time that I was not out to damage anyone and was only asking for standard industry royalties on current sales. I offered to forget the last 25 years if they would just acknowledge my current rights."


http://philiplawvere.com/#1_0,0,,0


http://decibelmagazine.com/uncategorized/pleasure-to-draw-an-interview-with-phil-lawvere/

It doesn't sound as though he wants much considering how important the covers were and how much the band have profited from his art.

But to be honest this kind of thing I stay out of because people never really know the full story.

"paid"

Yah, who knows the whole story. Thought it was interesting though.

If I have to make a guess I'd say Karl Walterbach paid for those drawings (including PTK) and they became NOISE property including unlimited merchandise usage and all that. I'm sure back in the day the dude was happy to sell off all exclusive rights for some cash. 25 years later he is trying to get on the bandwagon and cash in.

The truth is, if he has not sold the merch rights and have valid claim, he should hire a lawyer and start legal proceedings as suggested by Karl Walterbach.

If he has written off the merch rights to NOISE, he should chalk it off as "live and learn" mistake and move on.

In either case the dude should be happy his art is recognized and he can easily use his fame and get many current bands to become his clients, should he opt to offer more affordable pricing. Just my two cents.

I think that Walterbach was a man who understood contracts and business and surrounded himself with people who didn't. Helloween, Celtic Frost, Sabbat and others have all spoken about it. There is no way that this guy will be able to afford to take him on. Helloween tried and lost two years of their career and a six figure sum in legal fees.

I think this guy knows that so he's just venting.

Yea, it sounds to me that the artist got paid outright and essentially sold off his rights to the artwork back when he did them. Unless he has some contract that says otherwise, he's pretty well screwed out of any royalties. It sucks and might not seem fair, but that's business. Live and learn.