Marvel Suing Kirby Estate for Copyrights to X-Men, Spider-Man, et.al.

In 2009, Jack Kirby's heirs sent notices to all of the comics industry that the copyrights for the characters on which the famous artist had worked would revert to the estate between 2014 and 2019. Marvel is now suing the estate to retain the rights to such characters as Spider-Man, The X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Avengers, and many more.

Marvel's attorneys claim this is a greedy maneuver which has no legal merit; an attorney for the Kirby estate replied that Kirby had never received proper credit or compensation for his contributions to such titles as Amazing Fantasy, Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, The Avengers, The X-Men, and others. Kirby's estate feels Jack Kirby is owed for "lasting contributions" to what has become the Marvel Universe, but Marvel's attorneys say all of Kirby's work for the Disney subsidiary were "works for hire" to which neither Kirby nor his heirs have any right.

Jack Kirby died in 1994.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010