Marvel/Sony sued by Friedrich over Ghost Rider.

[Ice]

Newsarama reports it.

Reuters reports that Silver Age comics writer Gary Friedrich has sued Marvel Enterprises, Sony Pictures and several other companies, claiming an unauthorized “joint venture and conspiracy to exploit, profit from and utilize” his copyright to the Ghost Rider character.

Friedrich was co-creator and initial writer of the character.

The lawsuit, filed April 4 in federal court in Illinois, claims 21 violations based on the production and marketing of the Ghost Rider movie. According to legal documents, Friedrich alleges the copyrights reverted from Marvel to him in 2001:

I don't really get why he's suing now, and one of the commenters makes a good point:

If he has had the rights to GR since 2001, why wait until AFTER the movie made millions to sue? He could have sued right away. He could have sued sometime inbetween then and now. He could have sued when the movie was announced. He could have sued before the movie was released. Obviously, he’s after some quick cash. I don’t blame him, if given the opportunity, I might do the same thing, but the fact that this guy is making an obvious money grab makes me want to root for the big corporation over the “little guy.”

 

[Gideon Stargrave]

God, people suck. Stop sueing each other.

 

[SSJmole]

God, people suck. Stop sueing each other.

Since I'm a person your saying I suck?

That's libel. I'm going to sue you wade for everything you own!!!!






But seriously I was going to post this and agree 100% with "why wait until AFTER the movie made millions to sue?" Yes like W2 said People need to stop sueing each other.



Also this better not get in the way of a sequel and the extended version dvd

 

[Random]

God, people suck. Stop sueing each other.

Well if they did use it with out the rights they deserve to be sued.


Its possible he didn't realize about this until later. He probably thought Marvel had it settle and he was going to get his rightful royalties, but he got nothing. Or he didn't even know they were making it (not everyone watches tv, movies, reads magazines, go on the internet or see city buses)Or he's really pissed how the film turned out.

 

[Joe Kalicki]

Well, maybe he didn't know he had the rights until the movie came out and he did a little research. Marv Wolfman has had some success with Blade and the characters were created in the same era so maybe that got the ball rolling in his mind.

Selfishly I don't want any creators to sue, or at least win. I want Superboy back.

But, if they have legitimate claim to the characters and profits or whatever, I don't see how the timing should matter at all. I suppose they could have sued to stop production, but maybe they didn't really care until they saw they could get lots of money from it. And if they're entitled to said money, they're entitled.

 

[Jaggyd]

The irony here, by dragging his feet to get more money, he may lose the rights to GR.

Whenever a copyright is used without permission, but is not challenged, it weakens the case for the copyright holder. This is why Marvel comes across as sue happy (Marvel v. NCSoft as an example), if you don't actively defend what intellectual property you own, you can realistically lose it.

Secondly, if Friedrich signed over his publication rights to Marvel, it doesn't matter if Marvel forgot to file papers. At that point, he may OWN the character, but he gave permission to Marvel to USE the character.


Y'know, now I'm glad I suffered through Patent/Copyright Law classes.

Selfishly I don't want any creators to sue, or at least win. I want Superboy back.

Sadly, the Superboy case is entirely different than this one. In the Superboy case, DC turned down the original character, then created a facsimile that was too close to the original. Even though according to those in the know, the original Superboy was to be a sidekick, not young Clark Kent.

 

[Joe Kalicki]

How much claim would have Roy Thomas and Mike Ploog have on Ghost Rider?

I really hope DC's lawyers end up getting Superboy back. I'm the biggest Legion of Super-Heroes fan in the world and this character is very important to me. But again, that's just me being selfish.

 

[Jaggyd]

How much claim would have Roy Thomas and Mike Ploog have on Ghost Rider?

I really hope DC's lawyers end up getting Superboy back. I'm the biggest Legion of Super-Heroes fan in the world and this character is very important to me. But again, that's just me being selfish.

Technically, in work for hire, you retain no character rights. Case in point, all the mutants Morrison made, he owns none of them.

See, I asked Geoff and Gail about that. Both of them said he wasn't killed due to the lawsuit. I hate to break it to you, they just needed a corpse at the end of IC, and Conner replaced Nightwing's head on the chopping block.

Also, according to everyone I've talked to, there will be new Superboy stories after Final Crisis.

 

[Joe Kalicki]

See, I asked Geoff and Gail about that. Both of them said he wasn't killed due to the lawsuit. I hate to break it to you, they just needed a corpse at the end of IC, and Conner replaced Nightwing's head on the chopping block.

Also, according to everyone I've talked to, there will be new Superboy stories after Final Crisis.

Well, I'm not concerned about the new Superboy (though I liked him too), but primarily the original Superboy and the comics he appeared in. I figured the new Superboy had nothing to do with it, as Superboy-Prime is DC's new mega-villain, the Superboy Bizarro character Match is active in Teen Titans, and there's a storyline revolving around attempting to clone Superboy.

But I'm concerned about the old material and what kind of blocks are in place to prevent DC from reprinting or otherwise using them in some fashion, or somehow bringing back the original version of the character (though I guess SBP is close).

 

[Jaggyd]

Well, I'm not concerned about the new Superboy (though I liked him too), but primarily the original Superboy and the comics he appeared in. I figured the new Superboy had nothing to do with it, as Superboy-Prime is DC's new mega-villain, the Superboy Bizarro character Match is active in Teen Titans, and there's a storyline revolving around attempting to clone Superboy.

But I'm concerned about the old material and what kind of blocks are in place to prevent DC from reprinting or otherwise using them in some fashion, or somehow bringing back the original version of the character (though I guess SBP is close).

See, and the funny thing, according to all the signs, Clark was Superboy Post-IC.

 

[Joe Kalicki]

See, and the funny thing, according to all the signs, Clark was Superboy Post-IC.

Yeah, at the very least he performed some super feats, though I don't believe there's been a mention of him wearing the costume.

But to get back on topic, I think Friedrich might be happy with a decent pay-off and creator-acknowledgement. I believe that's what Wolfman got for Blade and I haven't heard anything about that for a long time.

Of course, Marvel could just as easily lose all their characters to Stan Lee Media!

(they won't)