Totally Missed It: Gary Friedrich Appealed Ghost Rider Ruling

Kevin Melrose has one of his typically superior link round-ups here, springboarding from Daniel Best's posting of the opening brief in Gary Friedrich's mid-July appeal of decisions against him concerning the character Ghost Rider. The original suit was filed in 2007 and the decision to which this serves as an appeal was passed down in December last year. Both Melrose and Best note that a Jack Kirby/Stan Lee copyright notice on a 1970s Simon & Schuster publication of a Silver Surfer story has been provided as evidence that copyright notice was granted during this period to someone other than Marvel, although the strength of that assignation is certainly debatable. Other arguments seem like repeats: the legal authority of check endorsement rights transferral (which have been savaged in the past) and Friedrich's claims to have been made to sign these things under duress.

The lawsuit may also take place in a slightly different context as a lot of comics fans process these legal efforts in odd fashion: I would expect some confusion from fans that may have donated to Friedrich's bottom line that may wonder out loud why resources are going to another legal battle; I would also expect some fans to declare themselves weary of the entire enterprise and feel Friedrich is somehow at fault for continuing down this path. Alternate explanations for Friedrich's career path will also likely bubble to the surface. Also, my impression is that while there's more legally-applicable evidence than usual out there that Friedrich created Ghost Rider, certainly more than some other characters that might be pursued by their creators legally, in fan terms there are strong questions about claims of sole provenance. I realize it's probably a huge mistake to process these issues through that filter, which likely won't have an iota of bearing on the legal outcome, but it seems to me this one maybe more than most unfolds in both worlds.
 
posted 4:40 am PST | Permalink
 

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