I remember there was a thread about this when the press release/hype first hit. And one of the main talking points of the thread was what kind of money would be offered and there was a lot of talk about copyrights and trademark stuff, IIRC.

Well, Zuda posted it's contract

There's three parts to it. The submission contract. The rights contract. And the Services cotnract.

It's late so I'm kind of bleary eyed from reading it. But to break it down, they're paying something like $2,000 to get through their contest process (i.e. if your 8 page submission wins or instant wins, you get around 2 grand). Then if you sign on for the contract, you get $250 per screen for 52 screens. So another $13,000. Considering I can maintain 1 page a week while working a 40 hour week elsewhere, that's not too shabby.

But the contract is long and I'm probably not awake enough to register important details.

Also, to the mods, if this thread is too redundant from the previous one, I apoligize. Feel free to move this post into that thread. The further away past 4 a.m. it gets, the lazier I get in terms of searching down old posts. I just know there's a lot of DDers registered with Zuda (as you can see from their LINKS section) so it's kind of newsworthy to let people know the contract is there for all to see now.

Wow, this sounds pretty great. But I'm assuming it doesn't apply to standard-sized comics (like mine at http://www.b2bcomic.com). Do you know of anything like what Zuda is offering for those?

I haven't gone back to check but, from memory - nothing. Zuda wants only screen-sized pages and has stipulated the exact dimensions to which all comics must conform.

(No doubt if I've remembered that incorrectly someone will post here soon enough!)

I might do something with generic stock characters, but they ain't getting my million dollar ideas like the Fat Blue Lady or Video Game Boxer.

zuda requires that every comic submitted to them be in a landscape 4:3 format, so almost everybody has to start from scratch.

I think zuda will also be very selective about what they select. Anything that they accept will have to be pretty killer and a cut above 95% of every other webcomic...

I think you're right about Instant Winners. They're probably only going to offer "instant wins" to already working professionals.

But ... the contest portion of their process I think leaves the door wide open for the other 95%. If your thing is at least POPULAR it can still get in without being super polished and professional.

I think the instant wins won't go so much to professionals; they by the nature of being professional will already be earning from their work... Instant wins I imagine will go not so much to the strongest, but the most mainstream and conventional. Work that is exceptional, professional and consistent.

The idea DC will put work to the vote which is in the "bottom 95%" or anybody whose work is substandard I think is wishful. Firstly it will be wasting the voters time and actually discourage voters if they have to sift through rubbish and secondly they will use the vote to gain popular support to slightly less mainstream proposals.

Well, my hope is that they can slice "exceptional, professional and consistent" from "mainstream and conventional". Mainstream and conventional is what's causing comics to be so boring for me. My hope is that this format will allow for artists who are exceptional, professional and consistent but NOT mainstream.

What do you all think, will Zuda be nothing but more rehashed super hero genre and Manga clones?

I can't see it being dominated by super heroes. DC's mainstream fanbase is fairly resistant to the idea of webcomics, so I suspect they'll be going after a new audience here. Specifically, an audience that's used to reading comics online.

If that does prove to be the case then, yeah, Manga-styled art should feature prominently, as will fantasy comics and maybe even the odd furry adventure.

It'll be interesting to see how they react to any slacker gag-strips that are submitted!