Also, DC does have rights to past output, the "new" public domain rights are for the general public to create stories in the universe using the unique creative elements that Willingham formerly retained copyright for, as per his contract.
Willingham and DC are still bound by the contract between them. But, the rest of the world is not. That doesn't mean that DC won't still try to strong-arm anyone who wishes to make their own Fables stories, it just means that Willingham has given the copyrights that he retained as per contract to the general public.
Also, DC does have rights to past output, the "new" public domain rights are for the general public to create stories in the universe using the unique creative elements that Willingham formerly retained copyright for, as per his contract.
Willingham and DC are still bound by the contract between them. But, the rest of the world is not. That doesn't mean that DC won't still try to strong-arm anyone who wishes to make their own Fables stories, it just means that Willingham has given the copyrights that he retained as per contract to the general public.
IANAL, this is layman analysis, etc.