Recent News On the Kirby Estate Lawsuit?

[Gryphon]

Has there been any recent news on the jack kirby estate's lawsuit against marvel comics?

[Iron Maiden]

I'm betting the lawyers are working on a settlement behind the scenes.

[Expletive Deleted]

I haven't seen anything since Disney joined the party in May. So no.

[Gryphon]

Okay, thanks. I was curious and I guess no news is a good sign.

[the new sensation]

I think this whole lawsuiit thing is HORRENDOUS. When you stop and think about what Mr.Kirby has done for the world of comics, and the inspiration he has been to so very many of us [and will continue to be for the rest of our lives] with his beautiful creations...well, I despair. Im not taking any sides in this, I just wish everyone concerned could think of a better way than settling "whatever" in court. I hope it all turns out for the best.

[the Dagman]

This whole case is a legal theater.

I believe that Disney itself is the one who got the Kirby Estate to file this suit. This was part of their Marvel acquisition plan. This is the part of the plan that will get the film rights for Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four back into the hands of Marvel. And Marvel is in no danger, as they will always retain the ownership percentage given to them by Stan Lee. That and their trademarks mean that they will always be able to make comics and merchandise with those properties.

You see, the contracts that Sony and Fox have means they get to make movies forever as long as they keep making them every couple of years or so. So to get them back for Marvel, their new owner Disney had to come up with a way to get those contracts thrown out. Which would happen if the properties in question now have a co-creator who was not a party to the original negotiations that led to the contract. If Kirby is ruled as having a co-copyright claim on the characters, the movie contracts with Sony and Fox are null and void. The rights revert to the creators, Kirby and Marvel, and all agreements have to be renegotiated. Or not.

So this is how it plays out:

Disney/Marvel and Kirby keep up their adversarial positions for the press as we wait for their eventual court date. When the case goes to court Disney will basically capitulate to all claims made by the Kirby Estate. (This is why they made a claim on Spider-Man as they won't actually have to prove it in court, but including him screws Sony) The Kirby's will gain 50% copyright ownership on that catalog of characters. And they will hold it long enough to make those contracts with Sony and Fox legally fade away. Then a couple of weeks later, the Kirby's and Disney will announce they have come to a deal where Disney buys all their rights back for like a $100M. Which is cheap compared to what they could make off a single Spider-Man movie.

So I am not worried. This is all a show. A legal theater. And one that ends with the Kirby family getting paid and the FF, X-Men and Spider-Man in the Marvel Studios continuity of movies. A happy ending.

[Sue Storm lover]

I certainly hope that your scenario is correct. Logically, Marvel should be the entity to make all Marvel character films.

[Hamdinger]

A very intriguing interpretation of events Dagman, one I hope is true since Marve/Disney has made far better movies than the other companies have, so as a movie goer I would hope the Evil Empire (Disney) can bring the wayward movie franchises home.