Marvel settles with four artists over a superhero copyright battle
A court battle has ended between Marvel and Larry Lieber and the estates of Don Heck, Gene Colan, and Don Rico. Marvel has dropped its lawsuits against the four with prejudice after an “amicable resolution” was reached. A similar fight with the estate of Steve Ditko and Marvel looks to still be ongoing. The four artists in which settlements were reached involved the creation of Iron Man, Ant-Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Blade,and Captain Marvel.
Under the Copyright Act, creators can terminate a copyright assignment after decades as long as certain circumstances are met. Marvel sued the artists whose work spanned from the 1950s to the 1970s after they sought to terminate and reclaim copyrifhts.
Marvel has consistently taken the stance that creators’ work were made for hire which prevented their ability to recapture the copyrights.
In 2013, Marvel won a similar case in a U.S. appeals court involving Jack Kirby. The case was settled as the U.S. Supreme Court was considering to take up the case.
