Disney has issued a memo supporting Marvel in the rights dispute with the heirs of Jack Kirby. THe document is included in the post; we don’t have time to read it now, but we’ll join you back here for the discussion.

1 COMMENT

  1. Strategically, the Kirby estate needs to do some work. Who is their campaign strategist?

    Find a way to simplify this complex issue, get a few key messages out there, make it a huge issue, and appeal to the international public. Embarrass the big guys.

    Take it to the talk shows and TV news. Maybe start with appealing to Paul McCartney, for example. Paul being a fan of Kirby from wayy back. Who else, maybe Nicholas Cage, comic fan and Ghost Rider. Lucas, possibly influenced by Kirby when he developed Star Wars.

    Otherwise, this will be just another sad tale of a talented but business-naive artist against the multi-attorneyed corporation; another David against Goliath, oh, I mean Darkseid. And they’ll get away Scott Free.

  2. Can the comment threads from the last dozen “Kirby vs. Marvel” debates just be copy-pasted here to save us all time?

    Seriously, perhaps the official entry of Disney into the fray will encourage the Kirby estate to pull back from their shotgun approach (Kirby creating Spider-Man, the atomic bomb, Post-It notes and other tenuous claims) to a more focused approach.

    Won’t happen, though.

  3. The memo does touch on subjects I haven’t seen discussed elsewhere, such as the effects of Marvel’s bankruptcy and reorganization, the distinctions between corporate entities and their legal responsibilities, and a statute of limitations, on the estate’s claims, especially the claim that Kirby’s artwork hasn’t been returned. A goodly portion of the memo is devoted to the estate’s claims connected to the Lanham Act and the two Wolverine and X-Men films.

    The memo didn’t display properly in Google Chrome, but did on Firefox. A plug-in is apparently needed.

    SRS