R.G. Llarena says Heavy Metal Magazine are selling “pirated” back-issues.

[boffy]

In response to the new Humble Bundle of Heavy Metal Magazine digital back-issues (https://www.humblebundle.com/books/b...al-vol-1-books), R.G. Llarena has posted on Facebook saying HMM don't have the rights to republish many of those issues https://www.facebook.com/rgllarena/p...1N6AzUQNz5bfdl

I just can’t remain silent about this. A heads up to anyone that’s planning on getting Heavy Metal Magazine’s latest Humble Bundle. The company DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHTS to reprint – neither in print nor in digital – many of the books that they’re offering through their current Humble Bundle. So, by supporting this you’re essentially buying a bunch of pirated comics. It’s pretty simple, everything that was published in the mag before 2012 can’t be reprinted unless authors or licensors are contacted and a new deal is put in place.

Does anyone know the backstory on this? Did HMM sell/lose/never have the rights to publish the stories after the initial print run? Are the rights contested?

[shooshoomanjoe]

That's IP theft isn't it? Pirating is when you download comics that you didn't buy.