Supreme Court Decision To Hear Jack Kirby Case Against Marvel Coming Soon
Jack Kirby will be getting some marquee attention from the Justices of the Supreme Court. Attention that could lead to Marvel and Disney arguing in front of the High Court against the Kirby estate over the rights to the numerous characters from the X-Men to The Avengers and the Fantastic Four and many more that the comic legend co-created.
On May 15, the nine Justices will debate in private conference whether or not to get involved in the Kirby estate’s 5-year attempt to gain back the rights from the media giant. If the High Court agrees to the March 21 filed petition from Lisa Kirby, Neal Kirby, Susan Kirby and Barbara Kirby, an oral argument date will be scheduled later this month for the SCOTUS’ next term.
This is the type of thing a Bob Ingersoll or someone else better versed in all things legal should reply to, but I just think it demonstrates the heavy-handed nature of the big publishers. The lawyers for Marvel Mouse and DC, who are Legion, drag these things out year after year in hopes to beat the heirs into frustration. I for one would love to see both companies stripped of their rights to the characters and watch them scramble. In Marvel’s case I’d like to see the company come up with anything untouched by Kirby to publish or put up on the screen. I know the fanboys will scream at this, if it happened, but let’s see what happens.
If the SCOTUS decides to take this case, it will almost instantly no longer just be about Jack. It will turn into a case about the work-for-hire agreement in its entirety, which ultimately means it will be about how comics are done in this country.
It will almost certainly affect DC’s ongoing litigation with the families Siegel and Schuster. If only as precedent, it will either put weight behind DC’s side, or spark a whole new barrage of cases from many other creators who will go after their creations.
If it happens, look for DC (and possibly Image and Dark Horse at minimum) to provide support, if only in the form of expert testimony, to the marvel side of the case.
I don’t know how they’ll decide, but in honesty, I think they’ll pass. Too many questions of copyright in there, and too many questions in the one case.