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Stan Lee Media and Disney Battle For Ownership of Marvel Characters

Posted by samzenpus on from the mine-now-I-take-it dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Stan Lee Media and The Walt Disney Co. have taken their arguments to the U.S. Court of Appeals over who owns the rights (and profits) to Marvel characters. Though Disney bought Marvel in 2009, Stan Lee Media (no longer associated with Stan Lee, himself) still claims copyright of the characters."

13 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Skimpiest article ever by halivar · · Score: 4, Informative

    No details, nothing about transfer of copyrights, proof of who is successor of interest, nothing. I RTFA and found the summary is pretty much all there is to know. Anyone got a more informative link?

    1. Re:Skimpiest article ever by Compholio · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's not a lot better, but some: http://www.denverpost.com/news...

  2. We can be certain of one thing by i+kan+reed · · Score: 4, Informative

    The actual people who came up with the characters definitely don't own them.

    Thanks, pro-corporate copyright laws and contracts!

    1. Re:We can be certain of one thing by Russ1642 · · Score: 5, Informative

      The actual people who came up with the characters sold them for money.

    2. Re:We can be certain of one thing by ZombieBraintrust · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If I pay you to create something why would you own it? If you want to own your copyrights then don't sell them.

    3. Re:We can be certain of one thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      >If I pay you to create something why would you own it?

      Millions of Americans who have professional wedding photos would like to know.

    4. Re:We can be certain of one thing by i+kan+reed · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Crucial distinction:

      They lost rights to everything they came up with in perpetuity as a standard contract of their employment. I view such heavy handed contracts quite dimly as a result of unbalanced employment negotiation.

    5. Re:We can be certain of one thing by tomhath · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's quite common today for the photographer to assign the copyright to the couple and give them all of the photographs in digital format. The days of "pay me for every print" are thankfully over.

    6. Re:We can be certain of one thing by bondsbw · · Score: 4, Insightful

      By that logic, the burger flipper at McDonald's should be able to pocket all the money McDonald's brings in.

      Don't ignore the fact that the employee's contribution is only a small component to the success of the business. Just because someone comes up with cool superhero drawings doesn't mean he alone also brings those to market, negotiates comic book, movie, TV, and other licensing deals, creates the content and publishes that content, or any of the hundreds of other jobs that go into the production including managing payroll, paying bills, etc.

      --
      All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
    7. Re:We can be certain of one thing by nahpets77 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In many cases the employees get a share of the wealth through stock options, RUS, stock purchase plans etc. If you want the whole pie then you should start your own company and work for yourself.

  3. Background material: by bmajik · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

    Short Version: Stan Lee has had nothing to do with SLM for over a decade - since his former friend and co-founder fled to South America to avoid federal securities fraud prosecution.

    SLM is currently a few leeches who have nothing to do with the comics industry are trying to sink their claws into the profits of the creative class.

    I understand that creative people need money to work, and the entities that front that money are due a return on their investment.

    That's not what's going on here.

    --
    My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
    1. Re:Background material: by tazan · · Score: 4, Informative

      If I read the wiki correctly. The company went bankrupt, new owners took over and sued Marvel for a piece of the pie. Kind of like a lottery ticket: not much chance of winning, but the payoff is huge. They lost. Second group did the same thing, The third group which apparently is some kind of hedge fund did the same thing. This is their appeal. So not really related to Stan Lee or anyone originally at Stan Lee Media.

  4. And people who write software by Crashmarik · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't usually own the copyright to the code, when they are doing it for another company.
    I get you aren't happy with the balance of power in this but remember the people who created those characters actually did give up their rights to them for payment. If you want to change the laws to give them greater protection consider you may actually be taking away their ability to sell their work and make a living.