Who Owns The Rights To Ghost Rider?
from the just-wondering dept
tijir writes in with an interesting legal situation. A few months back there was a movie and video game based on the comic "Ghost Rider." However, the creator of the original "Ghost Rider" comic idea claims that the copyrights reverted back to him in 2001 -- and so he's suing damn near everyone, from Marvel to Sony Pictures to Take Two Interactive to Hasbro for the products they've made based on the Ghost Rider concept. The article is a little short on the details concerning who owned what copyrights (and what they covered) and why there's confusion over who actually owns them. However, it seems clear that Marvel believed it retained the copyrights that the creator insists reverted back to him. Also not explained (though you can probably guess why this happened) is why the guy waited until now -- well after the movie and the video game were released -- to file his complaint. It seems quite likely that he knew about the plans and production well before either product came to market. If it was really a concern, why not try to stop the production?Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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RE:If it was really a concern, why not try to stop
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Re: RE:If it was really a concern, why not try to
Well, obviously. That's the point I was making. If he knows that his rights are being violated, doesn't he have an obligation to mitigate the losses? The fact that he waited until it was worth so much more makes his claims a lot more questionable.
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Re: Re: RE:If it was really a concern, why not try
Nothing about him waiting makes his claims "questionable"; it might have something to do with his motives but as has been stated here already, he'll get a much more "fair" cut of what is rightfully his than what the execs would have offered had they approached him beforehand.
My question is why you would call it questionable knowing that individuals typically do not have groups of assistants monitoring each and every thing about their works like a corporation of Marvel/Sony's size would. I have a million and one little programs I've written and released since the 90's and if someone were to rewrite one and make a fortune, I'd probably have no idea for 10+ years down the road. Even my most popular, though not my biggest, program(a plugin for a popular 3d rendering program) isn't big enough for me to worry if someone just make a cool million bucks from it without crediting or paying me for the commercial use of it. Seriously, I do most of it for my own pleasure but regardless once I'm no longer developing a project, I move back to enjoying my life which does not include the business aspect of it.
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Re: Re: Re: RE:If it was really a concern, why not
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RE:If it was really a concern, why not try to stop
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They deserve it
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Re:
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He'll Lose
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He'll win
It only started a new line in time for the movie.
Wouldn't the rights revert to the creator if they wern't using it anymore?
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Wouldn't the rights revert to the creator if they
Safely transferring or licensing copyrights requires a very specifically spelled out legal contract. Anything less is looking for trouble.
I'm not a lawyer but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn last night :)) and had to do a little research on the subject yesterday.
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Don't you have to defend
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Is it copyrights or trademarks?
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I wish he *had* spoken up sooner
Maybe his creative input wouldn't have helped, maybe it would even have stalled the production, since he seems the type to throw tantrums. At least he'd have put his ass on the line, and gained my respect. What's that old Teddy Roosevelt quote about the glory going to the guy in the ring, drenched in sweat, covered with dirt? That's the person I admire, the one that actually went for it.
Opportunists, meh, we have plenty of 'em, they're boring, and they get what they deserve. IMHO, they're barely a rung above lottery winners, and nearly as cursed.
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Basically, its going to get settled. He's got his foot in the door, its not going to end up in court because all he really wants is the extra piece of pie for his creativity of the character.
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He'll win
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Looks like he-told-you-so
One oddity is that his copyright claim is based on the magazine defendants never filing the copyright registration form, and so Friedrich claims that after 28 years (1972-2000) their rights expired.
The levers under this one are pay-me-or-be-sued, and who-forgot-to-file-the-registration.
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Copyright reform in 1976?
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On an unrelated note, the movie sucked so badly that I am glad that SOMEONE is suing them!
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On an unrelated note, the movie sucked so badly that I am glad that SOMEONE is suing them!
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Heh
What gets me, he seems to be saying part of the suit is for the damage this movie did to the value of Ghostrider. Do you think he is more pissed about the crappy movie or that everyone made money but him?
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Re: Heh
Ever read the original Ghost Rider runs? I've loved the character since I was a kid, but they are, generally-speaking, total cheese. The title's relaunch in the 1990s had some great moments, but it was never an A-level title. Based on that, it has to be the latter. If anyone can make money on the title, the first guy who said "ok, take Evel K. ...and now draw him with...HIS HEAD ON FIRE!" should... ;)
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