Marvel sues comic artist Jack Kirby's heirs to keep Spider-Man, X-Men copyrights

[samurainoir]

For those interested in the possible evolution of Spiderman via Simon/Beck/Kirby/Lee/Ditko, check out...

[Earth 2 Chris]

He lost originally in the 70's when the copyright laws changed and Kirby testified AGAINST him on behalf of Marvel. In retrospect, not a very smart move on Kirby's part because he would have benefited from Simon's action.

I was under the impression that Simon claimed sole credit for Cap's creation. That may have been a deciding factor in Kirby's siding with Marvel, since he wasn't likely to get anything out of Simon if that were true.

Chris

[samurainoir]

I was under the impression that Simon claimed sole credit for Cap's creation. That may have been a deciding factor in Kirby's siding with Marvel, since he wasn't likely to get anything out of Simon if that were true.

Chris

Taking Simon's word with a grain of salt, that was how things were presented to Kirby by Marvel management without having spoken to Simon.

According to Simon's account in the Comic Book Makers, Kirby would have been entitled to an equal amount legally of whatever Simon would have gained during the legal action of the seventies.

With that original outcome, and Kirby passing away along, with the Copyright Act being extended once again, I guess you can't blame Simon for staking sole ownership when he tried again.

I guess we'll never know for sure since it appears that Simon's most recent lawsuit quietly went away (which we are speculating, due to a settlement).

Anyone know what happened to Nodell's claim on Green Lantern? (if he ever did stake one?)