Marvel Goes To Court To Stop Termination Claims By Estates & Heirs Of Artists & Scribes

Termination notices have been sent from the U.S. Copyright Office on behalf of the estates and heirs for comic book legends like Ditko, Stan Lee, Don Rico (read that complaint here), Don Heck, Gene Colan, and the still-living Larry Lieber to Marvel for "all pre-January 1, 1978 exclusive or non-exclusive grants of the transfer or license of the renewal copyright(s)." The effective dates "ranging from May 29 to July 17, 2023," are based on Marvel's filings.

“Any contributions Steve Ditko made to the Works were done at Marvel’s expense because Marvel paid Steve Ditko a per-page rate for his contributions, Steve Ditko made those contributions to the Works with the expectation that Marvel would pay him, and Steve Ditko did not obtain any ownership interest in or to his contributions,” said Marvel’s heavy hitter outside counsel Daniel Petrocelli said to the estate of the famed Spider-Man artist in one of five complaints about declaratory relief filed in federal court in California and New York.

The Copyright Act of 1976 allows heirs to pull the plug on licenses granted or transferred for a copyrighted work in particular situations with a fully executed notice. If Marvel should happen to lose in court, they will not lose the ownership of these created characters. They would retain a co-ownership that would involve payouts to the other co-owners, among other requirements. Along with that profit-sharing, regardless of what happens in the federal courts, these rights only apply to the United States, not elsewhere.

“A declaration is necessary and appropriate at this time in light of the purported effective termination dates and the ongoing exploitation of the Works and the development of new works derivative of the Works,” said Marvel’s complaint(s), asking the courts to step in against the moves orchestrated to some degree by corporate thorn Marc Toberoff.

“Since these were works made for hire and thus owned by Marvel, we filed these lawsuits to confirm that the termination notices are invalid and of no legal effect,” Petrocelli told sources.

Marc Toberoff: "I represent Larry Lieber (Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man) , the estates of Steve Ditko (Spiderman, Dr. Strange), Don Heck (Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye), Don Rico (Black Widow), and Gene Colan (Captain Marvel, Falcon, Blade). In 2010-2014 I successfully represented the family of Jack Kirby, the co-creator of Marvel’s most famous superheroes, in a case where Marvel similarly sued Kirby’s family for exercising their rights under the Copyright Act."

Source: Deadline