Bleeding Cool was all over the news that Marvel has asked Google to shut down the blog Comics Invasion that was run on their Blogspot platform.  The blog which was up around two years provided links for illegal downloads of Marvel comics.  After the take down, the blog was quickly up on WordPress with their entire archive.

But why is this shocking?  Marvel and numerous other comic book companies have been cracking down on piracy over this past year.  Working with the FBI, a coalition of comic book companies shut down HTMLcomics.com along with six other websites and another coalition took down manga.com.

In an industry increasingly moving towards digital distribution, they’re covering all their bases including shutting down illegal distribution networks that directly undermine their ability to sell comics online.  Why pay, when you can get them for free?

The bigger news out of Marvel’s visit to Google would be if we see a future venture in a positive direction of distribution or archiving of historically significant comics, but then again, why give something away for free when you can charge.

Below is a copy of the DMCA notice.

August 26, 2010

Sender Information: Marvel Entertainment, LLC Sent by: Legal Affairs New York, NY, 10016, USA

Recipient Information:
Google, Inc.
Mountain View, CA, USA

Sent via: email
Re: *RE: DMCA Notice – http://comicsinvasion.blogspot.com/*

Re: NOTICE AND TAKE DOWN – http://comicsinvasion.blogspot.com/

Dear Blogger Legal Support:

Marvel Entertainment, LLC (“Marvel”) is a character-based entertainment
company with a proprietary library of over 5,000 characters. Marvel owns or
controls the copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property rights
in and to the following publications and characters featured in such
publications: Alias, Alpha Flight, Annihilation, Ant-Man, Avengers, Black
Panther, Blade, Cable and Dead Pool, Captain America, Civil War, Daredevil,
Dark Tower, Defenders, Elektra, Excalibur, Exiles, Fantastic Four, Ghost
Rider, Heroes for Hire, Hulk, Iceman, Iron Fist, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, Nick
Fury, Nova, Punisher, Sabretooth, She-Hulk, Silver Surfer, Spider-Girl,
Spider-Man, Sub-Mariner, The Thing, Thor, Thunderbolts, Ultimate Universe,
Ultimates, Weapon X, What If, Wolverine, X-Factor, and X-Men, among others.

The following permalinks contain images that infringe Marvel’s copyrights
and trademarks. Additionally, these links contain access to downloads that
contain complete unauthorized reproductions of Marvel comic book
publications:

http://comicsinvasion.blogspot.com/2010/08/curse-of-mutants-blade-01.html

http://comicsinvasion.blogspot.com/2010/08/astonishing-x-men-35.html

http://comicsinvasion.blogspot.com/2010/08/fantastic-four-582.html

http://comicsinvasion.blogspot.com/2010/08/thor-613.html

http://comicsinvasion.blogspot.com/2010/08/deadpool-team-up-890.html

http://comicsinvasion.blogspot.com/2010/08/captain-america-609.html

http://comicsinvasion.blogspot.com/2010/08/black-widow-05.html

http://comicsinvasion.blogspot.com/2010/08/shadowland-moon-knight-01.html

I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted material described
above on the allegedly infringing web pages and the linked pages on these
pages is not authorized by Marvel, its agent or the law.

I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification
is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on
behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Please act expeditiously to remove the material identified and contact me at
[redacted], or [redacted]@marvel.com if you have any questions.

Marvel reserves the right to take all available remedies available at law
and in equity to protect its interests, and nothing in this letter shall be
construed as a waiver or relinquishment of any rights or remedies available
to it.

Sincerely,

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