Just as Marvel Studios’ Phase Four is kicking into gear, the companies responsible for creating the vast MCU will also get ready to stave off possible compromises over the characters in it, as the heirs of several creative masterminds could disrupt ownership of several Avengers.
The main Marvel characters in question are Iron Man, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Falcon, plus No Way Home duo Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, among others, whose property could be subject to copyright termination in the near future by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Gene Colan, and Don Rico’s descendants, according to US law. If Marvel representatives lose, this could mean Disney would be forced to share the licensing rights and exploitation of all these works with the different groups of heirs.
According to court documents dug up by The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Characters, Inc has filed complaints looking to obtain a formal declaration that all these powerful Avengers are not eligible for copyright termination despite their work for hire nature. Basically, copyright termination allows authors or their eventual heirs to reclaim rights over a specific work, provided certain conditions are met, a field in which Marc Toberoff, the attorney representing the different groups of heirs, specializes in like few others.
Toberoff is most famous for representing Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster in a failed attempt to seek such termination from DC Comics, as well as doing the same on behalf of Jack Kirby’s heirs between 2013 and 2014, with the latter case ultimately being settled before getting reviewed by the Supreme Court. Marvel’s response comes on the back of recent termination notices filed by Stan Lee’s brother Larry Lieber, which - if successful - would see Disney lose partial control over their prized superheroes in June 2023.
Naturally, Marvel has lawyered up quite well with Dan Petrocelli, the same attorney who held up DC’s rights in the Superman case, with the core part of the company’s argument being that “Marvel had the right to exercise creative control over [Lee’s] contributions and paid [Lee] a per-page rate for his work." The news should not come as a surprise, given that even writers and artists from more recent works like the Winter Soldier have voiced their dissatisfaction over how little compensation they have actually received for the money-making machines they created.
Like any legal proceedings, it will take a while until the ramifications of these copyright battles fully play out, but in the worst-case scenario for Marvel, they would end up having to share part of those massive MCU profits. The move will only add up to the legal worries piling up for Disney and Marvel after Scarlett Johansson's own lawsuit over her Black Widow bonuses.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter