Thanos Snap: Could Disney Lose Avengers? What Investors Should Know About Comic Book Lawsuit

In “Avengers: Infinity War,” the Thanos snap changes the fate of several characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Could a real-life Thanos snap happen and keep the Walt Disney Co DIS from creating new content with several of the biggest superhero characters?

What Happened: Lawsuits between Marvel comic book creators and Disney could change the outlook of the superhero movie universe.

The family of Stan Ditko filed a notice of termination of Spider-Man, a character that first appeared in comic books in 1962.

The lawsuit uses copyright law, which grants authors or heirs the right to reclaim their works after a set period of time. Under the lawsuit, Disney would have to give up rights to Ditko-created characters in June 2023.

The specific claims from the Ditko family center on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, two characters Ditko co-created. Sony Group Corp SONY currently has media rights to the Spider-Man franchise.

Lawsuits against Disney and Marvel currently center on the characters of Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Falcon and Thor. 

Disney’s defense claims that the comic book characters were created by made-for-hire workers, which would make them ineligible for copyright termination.

“Marvel had the right to exercise control over Lieber’s contributions and paid Lieber a per-page rate for his work,” Disney claims about Larry Lieber, Stan Lee’s younger brother, who has also filed a termination notice. Lieber was the co-creator for Iron Man, Ant-Man and Thor.

Related Link: Disney Reportedly Considering Purchase Of Spider-Man Rights Or Film Division From Sony

Why It’s Important: The latest reports show that Disney would lose full ownership of the characters if they lose the lawsuit.

This means Disney could still make movies and content with the popular superhero characters but would be forced to split profits with the families of the comic book character creators.

A previous lawsuit saw the estate of Jack Kirby fighting a copyright claim against Marvel. Due to Kirby’s freelancer and work-for-hire state, the family lost the lawsuit. The case was petitioned to the U.S. Supreme Court and the parties settled before the case was taken up.

Several of the lawmakers involved in the latest creator versus media company battle were involved in the Kirby case or similar cases against DC Comics, now a unit of AT&T Inc. T. The precedent set in those cases put the odds in Disney’s favor to win the case.

The heirs of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster spent years in litigation fighting for a copyright claim on Superman. The courts sided with DC Comics.

The other important item for the cases is it only concerns copyright law in the U.S. If the families win, they would only split profits made in the U.S. and see Disney continue to bring in massive amounts of profits from the international box office and licensing.

Since acquiring Marvel in 2009, Disney has enjoyed massive success from the Marvel characters. Movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have earned more than $23 billion from the worldwide box office. Marvel characters also help boost revenue of Disney+, consumer products, licensing and theme park tickets.

Photo: Marvel Studios