Marvel files five lawsuits to block copyrights from creators of Spider-Man, Iron Man

On Friday Marvel filed five lawsuits against the comic book creators of Spider-Man,Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Thor,Ant-Man and Doctor Strange. The lawsuits were filed in an attempt to block the creators from reclaiming copyrights to these popular characters.

What Marvel said:

This happened as a response to five Marvel authors filing several termination notices with the U.S. Copyright Office. According to these notices, the studio would have to make payments to the authors. Marvel could still use the popular characters. The civil suits from Marvel were filed in New York. They argued that several artists and authors put together the work of the company. Hence, copyrights should be with Marvel and not the original creators.

Marvel is seeking a legal declaration saying it holds the copyrights to the popular characters. Marvel is not pursuing any damages regarding the same. Under the Copyright Act 1976, creators are allowed, in certain circumstances, to terminate the license to a copyrighted work. But the notice has to be properly executed.

What the authors say:

The notices were filed by Marc Toberoff. He put forward the argument that the Marvel authors’ creation led to multi-billion dollar franchises. Therefore the creators deserve a share in the same. Toberoff represents Larry Lieber who is the brother of Stan Lee. Larry Lieber is also the co-creator of Thor and Iron Man. In addition, Toberoff is also the lawyer for Steve Ditko who created Spiderman and Dr. Strange.

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On the workfront, Disney/Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings achieved the success of becoming the highest grossing movie during the pandemic until now. The success of Shang-Chi was also achieved theatrically and not on digital platforms. The movie stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who is led to confront his past in daring ways. He is pulled into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization in the process.

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