Marvel Sues to Block Creators’ Heirs From Reclaiming Rights to Spider-Man, Iron Man, More

Marvel is seeking to maintain complete control of some of their biggest properties, suing the heirs of several comic creators to keep them from reclaiming the rights. Variety reports that the Disney-owned company filed five lawsuits against heirs of the creators of characters like Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man and Doctor Strange.

The lawsuits came after the heirs filed a host of termination notices with the U.S. Copyright Office intended to reclaim the rights to the characters. While a successful notice would not prevent Marvel from using the characters, they would require the studio to make payments in order to use them.

The notices were filed on the behalf of Larry Lieber, the brother of Stan Lee and a co-creator of Thor, Iron Man, and Ant Man, as well as the estates of Steve Ditko (who co-created Spider-Man and Dr. Strange), Don Heck (Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye), Don Rico (Black Widow), and Gene Colan (Captain Marvel, Falcon, Blade).

The lawyer for the various heirs told Variety that the heirs should be allowed to be compensated for the characters, who have been translated into the mega-franchise that is the MCU in addition to their comic book runs. “This is the deep dark secret of the comic book industry, if not now the entire entertainment industry, due to the explosion of these superhero franchises,” he said. “It’s about artists’ rights. It’s literally about injustice.”

Marvel’s lawsuits argue that the characters were created under work for hire deals and that there is no valid claim from the heirs to the copyrights as a result. They pointed to their win over Jack Kirby’s estate in a similar matter, in which the federal courts found that the characters were made under the work for hire arrangements. Marvel’s legal team say the new cases are “virtually identical circumstances.”

Marvel’s lawyer leading the matter head said, “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.”

Marvel is seeking a declaration that it holds the valid copyrights to the disputed characters, and is not pursuing any damages.

The heirs’ lawyer disputes the work-for-hire declaration, at least in terms of how the law was understood at the time, and that the creators were freelancers who assigned their copyrighted work to Marvel in exchange for payment. He claims that should entitle the heirs to compensation.

Copyright termination has become a big deal in recent years, with Wes Craven’s estate reclaiming the rights to A Nightmare on Elm Street in September of 2019. Victor Miller also filed a termination notice for Friday the 13th, though that matter is tied up in a legal battle between Miller, who wrote the film, and producer Sean Cunningham.