intellectual property Archives - Page 4 of 4

Tag Archives: intellectual property

Variety Takes on the Next Big Comic Villain, Copyright

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Brett

Variety has run an article looking at the increasingly murky area of copyright and intellectual property when it comes to some of our most beloved characters. While major publishers are reaping piles of cash, some creators and their heirs are using a provision in copyright law to challenge ownership. FIGHT!

We’ve already seen Superman split down the middle:

A federal judge has split up key parts of the mythology. DC Comics and its parent Warner Bros. still control many key parts of the storyline developed after his debut in 1938, such as Superman’s ability to fly, Kryptonite and the character of Lex Luthor, not to mention international rights and trademarks.

But the heirs to co-creator and writer Jerry Siegel, according to a 2008 opinion from U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Larson, have a claim on such things as Superman’s distinctive blue leotard, a red cape and boots, his ability to leap tall buildings and repel bullets and to run faster than a locomotive, as well as other significant aspects of his origins.

The estate of Jack Kirby is taking on Marvel, over the rights to such characters as Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four.

The slew of cases revolves around a 1976 revision of the Copyright Act that gives creators and their heirs the ability, under certain conditions, to reclaim ownership of characters after a passage of time, regardless of whether they had assigned their rights over at some point in their careers. Also another provision of the Copyright Act lets creators of works on or after Jan. 1, 1978, to terminate deals (with some restrictions) in which they transferred ownership of material they created to a company.

Numerous lawsuits are already underway and the lawyers are also raking up the cash. Only time (and a judge) will tell what the ending of this story is.

Intellectual Property Colloquium Teaches You About Copyright

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Brett

Doug Lichtman, Professor of Law at UCLA. Peter Menell, Professor of Law at UC Berkeley and David Nimmer author of Nimmer On Copyright had an interesting discussion about copyright law including comic books.

Copyright law has long recognized in authors an unwaivable right to terminate certain contracts and licensing agreements. A handful of high-profile cases have already called substantial attention to this termination provision, with disputes touching such iconic characters as Superman, Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Lassie, and Winnie the Pooh. In this edition of the IP Colloquium, copyright guru David Nimmer joins UC Berkeley Professor Peter Menell and UCLA Professor Doug Lichtman in an informal conversation about the termination right, its controversies, and the implications for modern copyright practice.

The discussion which you can listen to below covers the history of copyright law including the important the 1976 act that allowed creators to file for termination of copyright deals thirty-five years after creation. That important act comes into play next year. We can expect a wave of claims on top of recent cases already filed.

If you have any interest in copyright and it’s impact on our entertainment, this is essential listening. The Intellectual Colloquium is sponsored by Loeb & Loeb LLC, LECG, Microsoft and Kaufman.

Listen to the discussion here: Intellectual Property Colloquium

Piñatas Get the Copyright Beatdown

Posted on June 18, 2010 by Brett

There’s a crackdown on pirated piñatas depicting some of our favorite comic book characters the New York Times reports.

…officials from the attorney general’s office and the federal police seized more than 100 of the papier-mâché party accessories, Spider-Man prime among them, and took into custody several real-life piñata vendors as well. The authorities said the raid was a response to a complaint filed by Marvel Entertainment, which owns the rights to the characters in question. Hulk, another Marvel character, was also overwhelmed by the men in black that day, as was Captain America.

But, befitting a comic book storyline there’s a twist to this raid. The attorney general’s office said there’s no record of Marvel ever making the request. Existing law requires this before a raid is conducted and the company has claimed it has nothing to do with it.

The lawyer for the vendors claims this was an attempt at extortion and that after the seizure the items were then sold on the street by the officials who also offered to sell them back to the vendors.

Some vendors have eliminated the Marvel characters from their shops but other characters remain in the city’s piñata-selling zones. The New York Times has more on the fascinating subject.