Jack Kirby’s Heirs Out of Luck
Jack Kirby was responsible for the creation of dozens of characters in the Marvel universe, from the Fantastic Four to Thor to Spider-Man. While his style and creations are as close to immortal as you can get in comic books, the sadly-mortal Kirby died in 1996. His heirs, though, are very much alive, and have been attempting to wrestle the rights to his characters back from Marvel. Marvel claims that any of Kirby’s work was done as “work for hire,” meaning that the company owns whatever he created during his tenure. And a judge agrees — the case was decided in Marvel’s favor. Kirby’s heirs have vowed to fight the ruling, but the judge implied that there was no real evidence in their favor, so their chances of success are pretty dubious at this point.
Michael Sacco is a freelance editor and writer, currently working as senior editor at WoW Insider, part of the Joystiq network.