The New York Times: Disney Sues to Keep Complete Rights to Marvel Characters

The Walt Disney Company is moving to defend the heroes in its Marvel franchise by filing a number of lawsuits that will “invalidate copyright-termination notices served by artists and illustrators involved with marquee characters like Iron Man, Spider-Man and Thor.” Daniel M. Petrocelli, chair of O’Melveny’s Trial Practice, represents Disney and filed the complaints on their behalf. “Since these were works made for hire and thus owned by Marvel, we filed these lawsuits to confirm that the termination notices are invalid and of no legal effect,” Mr. Petrocelli said by phone. (Mr. Petrocelli is also representing Disney in its legal fight with Scarlett Johansson, who sued the company in July over pay connected to ticket sales for “Black Widow.”)

The New York Times subscribers can read the full article here.