The Associated Press is reporting that Marvel has filed a lawsuit to have a judge invalidate the notices sent by the heirs of Jack Kirby to terminate the copyrights.
This from the article:
"The heirs sent notified several companies last year that the rights to the characters would revert from Marvel to Kirby's estate.
The lawsuit says Kirby's work on the comics were "for hire" and render the heirs' claims invalid.
Comic book characters such as Spider-Man and the X-Men have become some of Hollywood's most bankable properties in recent years.
Marc Toberoff, an attorney for the Kirby heirs, said he hadn't seen the lawsuit and had no immediate comment."
ecksmanfan: So, the plot thickens...
UPDATE:
Here is a bit more information from Bloomberg.com:
"Four of Kirby’s children are wrongfully trying to cancel copyrights on 45 Marvel characters and stories published from 1958 to 1963, including 'Spiderman' and 'Incredible Hulk,' the company said in a complaint today in federal court in New York, where Marvel is based.
The heirs in September filed dozens of termination notices with the U.S. Copyright Office in a bid to revert Marvel’s rights to them beginning in 2014, Marvel claims. The notices were sent under a law allowing authors and their heirs to terminate copyright deals after a long delay.
'The notices filed by the heirs are an attempt to rewrite the history of Kirby’s relationship with Marvel,' Marvel General Counsel John Turitzin said today in a statement. The company is seeking a so-called declaratory judgment that the notices are invalid."