November 21, 2002
Don Rosa is currently not producing any new stories or doing any other official work involving the use of Disney characters. He ceased producing Disney Duck stories last May after finishing "The Dream of a Lifetime" as a protest against the lack of royalties paid him on reprint collections of his stories and other all-Rosa projects, and the frequent poor quality of those products that reflects directly on him.
In a comment he says: "I was getting too frustrated and bitter about being one of the most well-known cartoonists in Europe and not making a dime off it. They have gotten used to not dealing with me when they reprint my work. Aside from the lack of royalties, the results embarrass me. My stories are often reprinted with incorrect pages of art, the coloring is improper or incorrect, the lettering is poor or missing altogether, the computer reproduction is pixilated. And I don't even know what's going on in the translations of my scripts. But the readers, aside from naturally assuming I get compensated for the books, also assume I have some control and naturally blame me for the errors!".
As a result there will for the time being be no new Don Rosa albums or hard-cover books around.
There has been contact between Egmont and Don Rosa about these matters. A German source says Egmont will try hard to reach a deal with Don Rosa and that there will be a new meeting between the parties early in 2003.
The fact that this situation is taking place at the same time as Union of the comic artists in Italy is fighting against Disney Italy for the recognition of the reprint rights and the property of the original art seems to be just a coincidence, but after all it may make it easier for Don Rosa to achieve a reasonable deal, since he is no longer standing alone in these matters.
UPDATE: December 24, 2002
Good news: Don Rosa is back in business. Merry christmas and a happy new year to all of you!