RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media Disney to buy Marvel

Much of the comic book industry is taking a "wait and see" approach to Disney's acquisition of Marvel Entertainment, but we could already be seeing our first casualty of the recent merger.

When IGN spoke with "The Spectacular Spider-Man" supervising producer Greg Weisman about the show's future, the veteran producer dropped the bombshell that Sony will not continue producing the series, which currently airs on Disney XD and is waiting for the go-ahead on a third season.

According to Weisman, Sony relinquished all television rights to the Spider-Man character in exchange for "some concession vis-a-vis the live action 'Spider-Man' features" from Disney/Marvel.

The news offers a clear indication that the House of Mouse is already doing everything in its power to put the Marvel brand under one roof, or as much of it as possible. While it doesn't sound like Disney/Marvel is any closer to securing Spidey's film rights from Sony, it might just be a matter of time.

As for "The Spectacular Spider-Man" itself, Weisman offered interesting insight into the potential fate of the beloved cartoon series, which already has two successful seasons behind it, in light of Disney's recent acquisition.

"If Disney XD decides they don't want any episodes, it's no longer likely that we'd shop the series around to XD's competitors," warned Weisman. "So any decision [about future episodes of 'Spectacular'] begins at XD, I would think. And before you ask, no, nobody at Disney has talked to me about the series."

In other words, "The Spectacular Spider-Man" is hanging by a thin web—a web held firmly in the gloved palm of Mickey Mouse.

The Walt Disney Company’s proposed $4-billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment may come with a headache: a brand-new superhero copyright dispute.

Heirs to the comic-book artist Jack Kirby, who has been credited as the co-creator of characters and stories behind Marvel mainstays like the “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four,” among many others, last week sent 45 notices of copyright termination to Marvel, Disney, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and others who have been making films and other forms of entertainment based on the characters.

The legal notices expressed an intent to regain copyrights to some creations as early as 2014, according to a statement from Toberoff & Associates, a Los Angeles firm that helped win a court ruling last year returning a share of the copyright in Superman to heirs of the character’s co-creator, Jerome Siegel.

Reached by telephone on Sunday, Mr. Toberoff declined to elaborate on the statement. A spokeswoman for Marvel had no immediate comment. Disney said in a statement, “The notices involved are an attempt to terminate rights seven to 10 years from now, and involve claims that were fully considered in the acquisition.” Fox, Sony, Paramount and Universal had no comment.

Marvel shareholders must still approve the sale of the company to Disney, which is already battling criticism from some Wall Street analysts that Marvel comes with too messy an array of rights agreements. The worry is that Disney will have a hard time immediately executing a coordinated exploitation of Marvel’s various brands.

Sony has the film rights to Spider-Man in perpetuity, for instance, while Fox has the X-Men and Fantastic Four. Paramount has a distribution agreement for Marvel’s next few self-produced movies, including a second “Iron Man” film. Meanwhile, Hasbro has certain toy rights and Universal holds Florida theme park rights to Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, among other characters.

Mr. Kirby, who died in 1994, worked with the writer-editor Stan Lee to create many of the characters that in the last decade have become some of the most valuable in a Hollywood that hungers for super-heroes. Mr. Kirby was involved with “The Incredible Hulk,” “The Mighty Thor,” “Iron Man,” “Spider-Man,” and “The Avengers,” among others.

The window for serving notice of termination on the oldest of the properties opened several years ago, and will remain open for some time under the law. But Disney’s announced purchase gives a new reason for anyone with claims on Marvel to stake out a position.

Under copyright law, the author or his heirs can begin a process to regain copyrights a certain period of years after the original grant. If Mr. Kirby’s four children were to gain the copyright to a co-created character, they might become entitled to a share of profits from films or other properties using it. They might also find themselves able to sell rights to certain characters independently of Marvel, Disney, or the various studios that have licensed the Marvel properties for their hit films.

In July, a federal judge in Los Angeles ruled that Warner Brothers and its DC Comics unit had not violated rights of the Siegel heirs in handling internal transactions related to Superman, but an earlier ruling had already granted the heirs a return of their share in the copyright. In the late 1990s, Mr. Toberoff represented a television writer, Gilbert Ralston, who sued Warner over the rights to the film “Wild, Wild West.” The suit was ultimately settled.

Copyright issues have become increasingly difficult for Hollywood, as it continues to trade on characters and stories that were created decades ago, but are now subject to deadlines and expiration dates under federal copyright law.

Oh, yeah, NOW the kids are concerned with their dad's legacy.

Wouldn't you want your kids to be concerned with your legacy?

SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Oh, yeah, NOW the kids are concerned with their dad's legacy.

Personally, I think the kids should earn their own fucking money, instead of riding the coattails of their dad's corpse.

SNARF, YOU ARE SHIT AND YOUR DEATH WILL BE REJOICED!

First, whatever legal right they have is tempered by the fact that Kirby is only listed as CO-creator. Second, go make me some breakfast, bitch.

First, whatever legal right they have is tempered by the fact that Kirby is only listed as CO-creator.

Personally, I think the kids should earn their own fucking money, instead of riding the coattails of their dad's corpse.

Already a hot commodity, Marvel characters got even hotter this month with the earth-shattering Disney announcement. To that end, any studio who still has their mitts on a Marvel property will never let that property go, and that means they have to be actively developing it.

The latest news from the Deal Memo blog at Variety is that Sony is revving up the sequel to 'Ghost Rider 2' in spite of the original movie's middling performance.

Filmmaker David S. Goyer is said to be in early talks to "create the story and supervise writers", which is a quirky new role in filmmaking that seems to have grown out of the comics-to-film movement. Nicolas Cage is on board to return to the role.

Former Marvel big-shot Avi Arad will produce along with Michael De Luca and Steven Paul. Gary Foster will serve as an executive producer.

Goyer, as fans may recall, penned several scripts for the first 'Ghost Rider', which was to be darker, R-Rated and more in the vein of Goyer's successful 'Blade' franchise. At some point the mandate from Marvel and Sony was to keep the show PG-13, and lighten it up for broader audiences. The result was the enjoyable but forgettable original directed by Mark Steven Johnson.

Odds are that the new move will be PG-13 too, but hopefully carry some of the scary elements that Goyer intended for the original.

The article also mentions numerous other Marvel properties that are still locked up by other studios. Most are well-known to fans: 'X-Men', 'Fantastic Four', 'Silver Surfer' and 'Daredevil' at Fox as well as 'Spider-Man' at Sony. One that rarely gets mentioned is 'Sub-Mariner', which is still submerged at Universal.

Also of note is the mention that Avi Arad, who is an independent producer these days, is actively developing the manga-based 'Ghost in the Shell' movie as well as the comic-strip based 'Popeye' as a CGI-animated movie.

First, whatever legal right they have is tempered by the fact that Kirby is only listed as CO-creator. Second, go make me some breakfast, bitch.