Comic book legend, Jack Kirby passed away in 1994 leaving a great legacy behind him which lead to his inheritors wanting to remove Marvel's copyright/ownership of the comics published from 1958-1963 from 2014 through 2019. The only choice Marvel Worldwide Inc. had was to sue them from preventing it from happening.
Recently, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan favored Marvel's argument, which means Marvel Comics gets to
keep the rights/copyright/ownership of beloved, long time Marvel Comics characters such as The Avengers, The Mighty Thor, Ant-Man, Nick Fury, The Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four, The Rawhide Kid, and The X-Men. The appeals court stated:
"Kirby's completed pencil drawings, moreover, were generally not free-standing creative works, marketable to any publisher as a finished or nearly finished product. They build on pre-existing titles and themes that Marvel had expended resources to establish -- and in which Marvel held rights -- and they required both creative contributions and production work that Marvel supplied. That the works are now valuable is therefore in substantial part a function of Marvel's expenditures over and above the flat rate it paid Kirby for his drawings."
So what do you think about how the case ended? Do you think it was fair? Do you think it was a good verdict? Be sure to share your thoughts below in the comments section below and be sure to like this article.