User blog:ARTaylor/Decision in Kirby Estate Lawsuit

Marvel Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company won the case against the estate of Jack Kirby represented by lawyer Marc Toberoff in the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York. The ruling stated that Kirby was a freelance work-for-hire writer and did not retain the copyright on characters such as Captain America, the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Avengers, Iron Man, Hulk, Silver Surfer, Thor, and Spider-Man. Disney issued a statement saying, “We are pleased that in this case, the judge has confirmed Marvel’s ownership rights.” Other studios involved include Sony, Fox, Universal, and others who hold the various film rights. Toberoff has won many similar lawsuits including a case against DC Comics and Warner Bros against Superman on behalf of the Jerry Siegel estate. Much like with Superman, Kirby's estate looks to regain his share of copyright in the characters and their use in comics and other media. Former editor-in-chief Stan Lee has been supportive of Marvel/Disney.

However, this is not the end as Toberoff stated, "This is just the beginning." Toberoff claims that the Kirby estate exercised their termination rights under the Copyright Act and vows to appeal the court ruling to the Second Circuit. "We knew when we took this on that it would not be easy given various arcane and contradictory 'work for hire" decisions under the 1909 Copyright Act."