Kirby Heirs Lose Appeal Against Marvel Comics

[wktf]

Originally Posted by snappahead

Definitely. Jack would be very happy to know that all of his years of blood, sweat and tears benefited his children and his children's children. He was old school and a proud family man. Nothing meant more to him.

Very true. If the Kirby family get compensation for Jack's work, I think that's what Jack would have wanted. Just as they want him credited for his creations.

[wktf]

Originally Posted by snappahead

Its about time. I know that lawsuits and money are the reason its taking this long to see proper credit given, but its a disgrace none the less that its taken this long.

Do the films usually give Jack credit?

The films do give Jack credit. The Agents of SHIELD TV show also gives Jack credit

[snappahead]

Originally Posted by wktf

The films do give Jack credit. The Agents of SHIELD TV show also gives Jack credit

That's good to hear at least. I'm sure I took note of that at some point, but couldn't remember. When you hear about the "Marvel way" of creating comics back in the 60's with Stan and Jack, you realize just how big of a role Jack had and how little credit he's ever really been given outside of us nerds who already know. Better late than never I suppose. Ridiculous that it's taken a lawsuit to make it happen though.

[ftrez]

Originally Posted by Bullseye

But why is industrial design any less important? I think the parallels are fair. The heirs of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have just lost a case in regards to the Sherlock Holmes stories which will remain in the public domain. Interesting times of late.

It isn't a question of importance. It's a question of of the field and copyright law. In industrial design, there are agreements/contracts between the designer and the firm over ownership & rights. There are patents that are applied for and defended. etc. etc. In Kirby's case there is a lot of question over creating vs. work-for-hire. I won't touch that, again because I'm no lawyer, except to say that I'm betting it was especially nebulous in the early days of Marvel. I'm sure the assumption was "Marvel owns everything" but how that stands up to copyright laws is questionable.

As far as the Doyle's go, copyrights expire. That's part of the law. Work done prior to 1923 (I think) is expired and copyright protections no longer exist, hence public domain. The law being the law, I'm sure there are exceptions.