In 2009, shortly after Disney announced its acquisition of Marvel, the family of Jack Kirby served notice that they intended to terminate their half of the copyright for dozens of Marvel’s most well known superheroes. Alongside Stan Lee in the ‘60s, Kirby was the co-creator of the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, the Avengers and he had even co-created Captain America during the ‘40s.
Marvel countersued the Kirby family and the two sides have battled in court and in the court of public opinion since then. Today, that came to an end when Marvel and the Kirby family released a joint statement that read “Marvel and the family of Jack Kirby have amicably resolved their legal disputes, and are looking forward to advancing their shared goal of honoring Mr. Kirby’s significant role in Marvel’s history.”
The new deal gives Marvel some positive publicity, but it also allowed the company to avoid a date with the Supreme Court. Lisa Kirby, Neal Kirby, Susan Kirby and Barbara Kirby were repeatedly unsuccessful in court when arguing against Marvel’s stance that Jack Kirby’s contributions to the Marvel Universe were only work for hire. However, the Kirbys did manage to get the Supreme Court to consider hearing the case.
Related: The 12 Most Awesome Jack Kirby Characters
While the John Roberts led Supreme Court has tended to favor corporations, there was no guarantee that Marvel would come out on top again. If the Supreme Court had ruled against Marvel, it would likely have inspired similar lawsuits from the heirs and estates of some of Marvel’s other legendary creators.
The terms of the Kirby family’s deal with Marvel were not announced. But if future Marvel Studios films play up the “created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby” credit, then might have been one of the deal points.
