Business & Finance Marvel Filing Lawsuit against Marvel Creators Families/Estate Holders to Protect Copyright IP

[Husky_Khan]

These lawsuits are being filed to contest the Estate of Steve Ditko and others from terminating Marvel Copyrights over Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and other Marvel IP. This is mainly due to the intricacies of Copyright Termination Law:

“The basic rule for works created and assigned prior to 1978 is that termination can be effective any time within a five-year window that opens exactly 56 years from the date copyright was originally secured,” the pair explain. “So, if as in Siegel, a copyright was secured on April 18, 1938, the five-year termination window opened on April 18, 1994. But even if that window is missed, if the work was in its renewal term in 1998, a second five-year window opens 75 years after the date of copyright. “

“Shuster’s heirs are seeking to take advantage of this provision, having given notice of their intent to terminate in 2013 (1938 + 75 years),” they continued. “If a work is first created or assigned after 1978, the termination can generally be effective any time during a five-year window beginning 35 years after execution of the grant.”

Taking these legal provisions into account, the window to terminate the copyright over Spider-Man’s initial publication in 1962 would open in 2018 and end in 2023, while Doctor Strange’s 1963 introduction would make his copyright eligible for termination between 2019-2024.
Source: Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #555 “Sometimes It Snows In April” (2008), Marvel Comics. Words by Zeb Wells, art by Chris Bachalo and Tim Townsend.

The U.S. Copyright Office further adds that termination provisions “are intended to protect authors and their heirs against unremunerative agreements by giving them an opportunity to share in the later economic success of their works by allowing authors or their heirs, during particular periods of time long after the original grant, to regain the previously granted copyright or copyright rights.”

Like the Siegel case, it’s possible that such an outcome for Patrick Ditko would subsequently result in comics featuring either Spider-Man or Doctor Strange bearing a disclaimer similar to the “By Special Arrangement With The Family of Jerry Siegel” found on stories featuring the Man of Steel.

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