You see there’s been an ongoing legal battle between Marvel and GHOST RIDER’s original creator Gary Friedrich. Apparently Friedrich wasn’t happy about not seeing any cash from all the love GHOST RIDER has been getting since 2004 and wanted to do something about it. Well according to The Hollywood Reporter’s Hollywood, Esq blog Friedrich just lost his battle. That’s right folks, the judges ruled with Marvel! Peep the rundown from THR:
In 1971, Friedrich was a freelancer working with Marvel Comics.
Marvel had produced a Ghost Rider character in the 1950s and early 1960s, but Friedrich’s conception of a new mystical super-hero was entirely different. Friedrich worked to introduce the new Ghost Rider’s origin story in 1972′s Marvel Spotlight #5.
In doing so, he worked under the so-called “Marvel Method” of creation: The creation of a synopsis. An artist (not the writer) who illustrates work based on the synopsis. The writer taking these illustrated panels and adding text. A “letterer” who places the text in the appropriate places on the illustration. An “inker” who applies color. Finally, the printing and distribution of the comic book.
The “Marvel Method” has led to a host of disputes from legendary comic book creators of that time (see a lawsuit from Jack Kirby, for instance) over authorship for purposes of copyright control. Marvel has always taken the position that these works were made for hire.
In a decision on Wednesday, however, New York federal judge Katherine Forrest says that it’s unnecessary to “travel down the rabbit hole of whether the Character and Work were in fact originally created separate and apart from Marvel, whether they are a ‘work for hire,’ or whether during an initial conversation in which Friedrich obtained consent to proceed with the project that eventually became the Work, he had thoughts about what rights he might want to retain.”
That’s because the judge looks at two contracts and decides they plainly give copyright authority to Marvel.
The first contract was at initial creation where Friedrich gave rights in exchange for payment. Friedrich believed that he held onto non-comic derivative versions of the work, but…
The second contract was signed in 1978 where Friedrich agreed to grant “to Marvel forever all rights of any kind and nature in and to the Work.”
Judge Forrest says the language of this agreement “could not be clearer” and rejects various arguments such as consideration and adhesion why this contract is not in full force.
“Either of those contractual transfers would be sufficient to resolve the question of ownership,” Forrest wrote. “Together, they provide redundancy to the answer that leaves no doubt as to its correctness.”
So there you have it folks! Marvel can now rest easy when GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE hits theaters on February 17, 2012.