Judge notes previous involvement in Gaiman lawsuit
MENOMONIE — The federal judge overseeing the lawsuit against author Neil Gaiman has had previous interactions with the defendant, and notified the attorneys for both sides in case either wants him to step aside.
Judge James Peterson entered the notification to say he had worked for a law firm that represented Todd McFarlane in a prior suit by Gaiman. That case dates to 1993, when McFarlane contracted Gaiman to write an issue of 'Spawn,' McFarlane's character. He worked with several guest authors, including luminaries of the genre like Alan Moore, Frank Miller and Gaiman to help raise the comic's profile.
Gaiman created several new characters for his issue. They were used in later issues as well. Gaiman filed the suit claiming he and McFarlane co-owned the characters since he had created them, albeit within McFarlane's comic. A judge agreed with Gaiman.
A second suit later saw Gaiman file after McFarlane created replacement characters Gaiman said were derivative of his work. A judge again sided with Gaiman.
Peterson's notice said he 'did not make a formal appearance, and I had only minor involvement in the case. To the best of my recollection, I may have reviewed some briefs written by others and I attended part of the trial.'
Peterson said he does not believe that involvement warrants recusal, but wanted to ensure anyone who disagreed can voice an objection 'before I have to make substantive decisions in this case.' He set a deadline of March 28 for a motion for recusal 'for the parties who have appeared,' and April 4 for those who have not.
The latter option appears to be a reference to Gaiman's estranged wife, Amanda Palmer. Palmer is named in the suit brought by Scarlett Pavlovich, as having introduced her to Gaiman as a sitter for the couple's son despite her knowledge of prior predatory behavior by Gaiman.
Palmer has not yet formally responded to the suit.
Attorneys for Gaiman have asked the court to dismiss the suit, noting that all the allegations involve behavior in New Zealand and that both Gaiman and Pavlovich were New Zealand residents at the time. They contend the case should be handled under New Zealand law, not in Wisconsin.
Pavlovich's attorneys have asked for additional time to respond to that motion, saying they need additional time to consult with experts on the question of New Zealand law versus the United States.
Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor granted the request, though reluctantly. She wrote the court was 'skeptical' that the plaintiff's argument met the standard for moving deadlines only for good cause. Referring to New Zealand's laws 'should not be entirely unexpected given the allegations in the complaint.'
The new deadline is April 11 for Pavlovich and April 30 for the defense reply.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Yahoo
'The Sandman': Netflix announces Season 2 titles, bonus episode
June 3 (UPI) -- Netflix is sharing episode titles for the second and final season of The Sandman. The fantasy drama based on the Neil Gaiman comic book series will end with a two-volume season in July. The first six episodes of Season 2 will premiere July 3, followed by five more July 24. Netflix announced Tuesday that the series will conclude with a final bonus episode July 31. Episodes include "Season of Mists," "The Ruler of Hell," "More Devils Than Vast Hell Can Hold," "Brief Lives," "The Song of Orpheus," "Family Blood," "Time and Night," "Fuel for the Fire," "The Kindly Ones," "Long Live the King," "A Tale of Graceful Ends" and "Death: The High Cost of Living." Season 2 takes its inspiration from Gaiman's Season of Mists, Brief Lives, The Kindly Ones, The Sandman: Overture, and the stories "Tales in the Sand," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "The Song of Orpheus," Thermidor" and "The Tempest." Tom Sturridge portrays Dream or Morpheus, who is bombarded with "impossible" decisions during the second season "as he attempts to save himself, his kingdom and the waking world from the epic fallout of his past misdeeds," an official synopsis reads. Adrian Lester, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Mason Alexander Park, Donna Preston, Esme Creed-Miles, Patton Oswalt, Vivienne Acheampong, Gwendoline Christie, Jenna Coleman, Ferdinand Kingsley, Stephen Fry, Barry Sloane, Ruairi O'Connor, Indya Moore, Ann Skelly, Douglas Booth, Freddie Fox, Laurence O'Fuarain, Clive Russell, Jack Gleeson and Steve Coogan also star.
Geek Tyrant
28-05-2025
- Geek Tyrant
THE SANDMAN's Two-Season Run Was 'Always the Plan,' Says Showrunner, But Fans Still Have Questions — GeekTyrant
Netflix's The Sandman is preparing to bow out this summer with its second and final season, and according to showrunner Allan Heinberg, that was the plan all along. Even if the timing of the announcement made some fans raise an eyebrow. When Netflix first renewed the hit adaptation in 2022, the streamer hyped a growing 'Sandman world' and teased more stories drawn from Neil Gaiman's iconic graphic novels. What the announcement didn't do was offer any specifics, like how many seasons viewers could expect. That lack of clarity has left some fans feeling blindsided by the revelation that the upcoming second season is the end of the road. Then came January 2025. Just as headlines began swirling around Gaiman, who denied allegations of sexual abuse, Netflix confirmed that The Sandman would conclude with Season 2. Some assumed the controversy may have prompted a creative pivot or early cancellation. But Heinberg insists that's not the case, he told Variety: 'The Sandman series has always been focused exclusively on Dream's story, and back in 2022, when we looked at the remaining Dream material from the comics, we knew we only had enough story for one more season.' Now, with the show's return just weeks away, Heinberg is doubling down. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, he said: 'It was a decision we made three years ago.' He acknowledged the awkward optics of Netflix's timing, announcing the end of the series just as Gaiman-related controversy was growing, but emphasized that the creative plan hadn't changed. 'I can't say that it affected our process, which is scheduled years in advance. It's been in the periphery of my experience and the background of my experience, but it hasn't been part of the world of the making of the show, if that makes sense. Every production is its own little island.' Still, the rollout has felt to some fans like the kind of tidy PR positioning studios fall back on when external complications arise. The situation echoes the path taken by Good Omens , another Gaiman-driven project. That show opted for a single 90-minute special instead of a full third season, and Gaiman stepped back from production altogether. Whether or not viewers buy the "two-season plan" pitch, The Sandman's endgame is now locked in. Season 2 will release in two parts, with the first on July 3, and the finale on July 24. As Morpheus prepares for his final on-screen chapter, audiences will be watching to see how the story ends, and how the show will close out under a cloud of controversy and curiosity.
Gizmodo
28-05-2025
- Gizmodo
‘The Sandman' Showrunner Still Maintains 2 Seasons Was the Plan All Along
The Netflix series based on the comic co-created by the recently controversial Neil Gaiman returns for its two-part final season in July. Hollywood is no stranger to doing damage control when a creative person does or is accused of something so distressing it affects the projects they're associated with. Think Ezra Miller, Jonathan Majors, or Neil Gaiman—the latter being a particularly notable case because when he was first hit with sexual abuse allegations, which he has denied, he was involved with multiple TV series. That includes two much-loved titles: Good Omens on Prime Video and The Sandman on Netflix. Good Omens' solution was to have Gaiman, co-author of the original novel and showrunner/creator of the series, first step back from being involved with production on what had already been confirmed as the show's third and final season. Then, it was announced that in lieu of a full third season, the Amazon show would close out its story with a single 90-minute special. The situation is a little different with The Sandman. After a very well-received first season, the show was renewed in 2022 and a Netflix press release shared at the time promised 'the Sandman world will continue to expand' with 'with more episodes and stories to be adapted from multiple Sandman graphic novels.' The announcement didn't specify how many seasons that might include. However, in late January 2025, Netflix confirmed season two would be The Sandman's final outing. In a Variety story released at that time, showrunner Allan Heinberg shared a statement that read in part: 'The Sandman series has always been focused exclusively on Dream's story, and back in 2022, when we looked at the remaining Dream material from the comics, we knew we only had enough story for one more season.' In April, fans learned that The Sandman's two-part final season would arrive in July, wrapping up the show for good. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Heinberg re-emphasized his earlier claim that two seasons of Sandman was something the team had been planning around for some time: 'It was a decision we made three years ago.' He framed Netflix's announcement, made at the height of Gaiman-adjacent negative press, that The Sandman would return for a second and final season as 'unfortunate timing, for sure.' He told the magazine the Gaiman stories started to hit just as The Sandman was close to finishing production and moving into postproduction. 'I can't say that it affected our process, which is scheduled years in advance,' Heinberg said. 'It's been in the periphery of my experience and the background of my experience, but it hasn't been part of the world of the making of the show, if that makes sense. Every production is its own little island.' The Sandman season two drops its first block of episodes July 3, with the final block arriving July 24.
