Alex Ross accuses new DC owners of cutting creator incentives for adaptations

[M L A]

Ahh I figured this would happen if the merger went through.

Even if they didn't have all that debt from the merger AT&T would still probably skimp out on paying them tbh.

[DrNewGod]

On one hand, yeah, this is ugly. At the same time, I could see it being as much auto-pilot bureaucracy as deliberate Scroogian stinginess.

ATT is a communications company, not an entertainment entity. It would not surprise me to learn when their CFO office hears the term "IP royalty" or "IP obligation," their decision makers think in terms of the technology the parent company uses and sells to others, not the creative arrangements you see with ongoing media offerings. So ATT likely has some pretty strict paperwork requirements for offering such payments. I could see finance just blanket rejecting anything lacking their recognizable documentation.

That still leaves plenty of room for ATT to be looking to skimp wherever possible, but it may not all be mustache-twirling malevolence.