Marvel Could Lose Copyright Over Spider-Man And Doctor Strange

[thecolorsblend]

For some reason, Bleeding Cool is the only outlet talking about this at the moment. So, unfortunately, the article is written in Rich Johnston's annoying style.

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/marvel-could-lose-copyright-over-spider-man-and-doctor-strange

Basically, it sounds a lot like the Siegel estate's shtick with the Superman copyright. That ended up falling through. But this stuff with Spider-Man and Dr. Strange might not. I'm no attorney. But the ownership of those characters has never been challenged in court. Siegel and Shuster repeatedly duked it out with DC Comics (and DC's predecessor companies) for decades so it was a pretty messy legal quagmire.

Spider-Man and Dr. Strange tho are relatively "cleaner". I'm not aware of any previous legal rulings on Spider-Man and Dr. Strange. So, Ditko's heir might have something here.

Considering how much Ditko's heir stands to gain, the results cannot be overemphasized. The materials introduced in Amazing Fantasy #15 include Spider-Man, Peter Parker, Aunt May, Uncle Ben, Flash Thompson, the burglar, Crusher Hogan and probably other stuff I'm forgetting. I'm less familiar with Dr. Strange so I can't say for sure there.

This is gigantic. And I reiterate, for some reason only Bleeding Cool is talking about it.

[The Laughing Fish]

The trades are now reporting the news, and it's not only Spider-Man and Doctor Strange either.

Larry Lieber, brother of the late Stan Lee, has filed termination notices too, and the heirs of all the comic book creators involved are being represented by the attorney who attempted to take Superman away from DC.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/marvel-suing-avengers-copyright-termination-1235020110/

[thecolorsblend]

Ultimately, the Mouse Dollars are going to fight this battle. And they're not accustomed to losing.

But I hope they do lose. I hope every single Lee/Ditko/Kirby/Everett/whoever estates all reclaim their characters. (A) It's the chaos option, which I always favor (B) there's a 50/50 chance some of those estates will want to retain ownership of the characters and hopefully eliminate the cultural Marxism the characters are mired in now and (C) the Lee estate will probably have to fight the other estates over who owns what = more chaos.

I never thought I'd want to see the comic book industry twist in the wind. But that's looking like an attractive option rn.

[The Laughing Fish]

A settlement has been reached:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/marvel-settles-lawsuit-over-spider-man-doctor-strange-rights-1235728192/