Judge Charles G. Case II of the Arizona Federal Bankruptcy Court has ordered the release of $382,000 plus interest from an escrow account in the Todd McFarlane Productions bankruptcy (see “Todd McFarlane Productions Files Chapter 11”) for the purpose of paying Neil Gaiman based on a secret settlement agreement reached in their litigation in federal court in Wisconsin (see “Gaiman, McFarlane Settle”).  The money in the escrow account, deposited in 2008, was called the “Gaiman Insurance Proceeds,” presumably because TMP had collected the money from an insurance policy.

Gaiman won the first round in the lawsuit almost ten years ago (see “Gaiman Sweep!”).  He was due royalties based on his half-ownership of Spawn #9, #26, and Angela #1-#3, which included some significant amounts, including royalties on $5 million wholesale worth of Angela and Medieval Spawn toys (see “Gaiman to Keep Share of Spawn Characters).

Since the final settlement agreement was secret, it’s unclear what additional sums, if any, might still be due from TMP to Gaiman.  It’s also unknown what Gaiman’s cost of pursuing over ten years of contentious litigation was; but it’s likely that if the roughly $400k from McFarlane was all he got, he’s still in the red on his litigation.  Gaiman has said that he will donate any amounts over his costs to charity (see “The Final Verdict: Gaiman Wins”).