Marvel Fights For Spidey, Mutants

By Allie Townsend | @Allie_Townsend | January 8, 2010 | +

Marvel is suing to keep the rights to superheroes including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and X-Men.

The federal lawsuit filed Friday in Manhattan asks a judge to invalidate notices sent by the heirs of artist Jack Kirby to try to terminate Marvel’s copyrights.

The heirs sent notified several companies last year that the rights to the characters would revert from Marvel to Kirby’s estate.

The lawsuit says Kirby’s work on the comics were “for hire” and render the heirs’ claims invalid.

Comic book characters such as Spider-Man and the X-Men have become some of Hollywood’s most bankable properties in recent years.

Marc Toberoff, an attorney for the Kirby heirs, said he hadn’t seen the lawsuit and had no immediate comment.

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tereglith

Don’t they have access to the Disney android lawyers now? They should be able to get out of this no problem.
http://www.nela.in/ moserw

Now that money is being made guess everybody wants a piece of the pie. My vote is with Marvel though.
gminnj

Yeah, screw Kirby’s kids! Marvel’s a huge conglomerate that just got bigger by joining Disney – they need more money!…

WTF???

Kirby, Ditko, etc., and all the early DC guys, all got screwed on unbelievable “work-for-hire” contracts because they didn’t know any better and/or were intimidated by these companies.

Neal Adams and some other guys finally negotiated a more fair world for creators, but let these families get their due. Grandpa Jack & co. created timeless myths that pull in hundreds of millions of dollars, and their heirs should benefit.

‘Nuff f-ing said.