Kirby Heirs to try and regain copyrights of characters

Characters created by Jack Kirby for Marvel are going to be reclaimed by his heirs in court, just as the Seigel Superman lawsuit:

www.newsarama.com...

This could be trouble for Marvel as Jack Kirby created or co-created a lot of characters for the comic company. Disney will have to negotiate in the future for movie rights with the heirs.

DC just has to contend with Superman as they have won the rights to many aspects of the character and others associated with him.

... I think Jack Kirby was one of the most creative forces the

comics industry has ever seen...

There would be no Marvel Comics if not for Kirby...

The "Marvel house style " of the 60's and 70's was all Kirby inspired...

Characters like the Silver Surfer were Kirby creations...

Although he often shared credit with Stan Lee...


Many comic creators were really "ripped off' by the old "work for hire"

contracts of the past...


I think Kirby and his heirs deserve creator credit...!

reply to post by cosmokatt7


Jack Kirby does get much credit for all of his work. However, I think greed has set in and many movies or comics could be in jeopardy if the heirs ask for too much money (like the Superman heirs are).

As far as I can tell, Jack Kirby did all the work. His heirs are just collecting the money from his work.

I have mixed feelings on this subject, and can see why DC does not allow any creator owned comics in its fold.

reply to post by kidflash2008


...Personally, I don't think Kirby gets enough credit...

And, if I create something, I feel it is only right that my direct heirs do

benefit fom it...

I think that is a "natural law' of society, especially Western society...


[edit on 30-9-2009 by cosmokatt7]

reply to post by cosmokatt7


Most heirs do get to own what is created. The problem here is that Mr Kirby sold his rights to Marvel and made a lot of money.

That puts a sticky in these proceedings. Many heirs want much more money than the property is worth.

It won't happen for a while, and maybe they can reach a settlement to get a percentage. Otherwise, Marvel will dump the characters for others.

DC already has a stand in for Superman (two if you count Captain Marvel). They own the rights to the shield as it is different than what the creators drew. Mon'el is the character (also known as Valor) and he is now in the Justice League.

come on, i don't get Mr. Kirbys heirs if Mr. Kirby himself didn't try to do this while he was alive why should they do this after he's gone.
and what if they do win they really can't do anything with the character's after all most will still be under marvel's copyright at least halfway ( Stan Lee did help half way on most of them) and it's not DC or anyone else would use the character's seeing as the characters would pretty much only work in marvels universe.

reply to post by duogemstone


The copyright is reverted back to the heirs on or around 2014, as 75 years have lapsed. The copyright law was changed so artists and their heirs would benefit. Unfortunately, it creates problems like comic book characters who were created by more than one person.

If they do not agree on anything, the characters cannot be used by anyone and stay in limbo.

For the most part, DC owns its characters other than Superman. They do own Superman's logo and also characters like Supergirl and Superboy. The can replace Superman with Mon'el, Captain Marvel or the Martian Manhunter.

Marvel would have problems as Mr Kirby created many different characters with other people.

I can see the heirs wanting a small percentage of the profits, but unfortunately they want huge numbers or they will threaten to take the characters with them. Image and other companies may try to bid for them, but they may not have what the heirs are asking for.

The law was intended to help people, but can also create messes such as this one.