A Sense of Doubt blog post #2417 - Disney Sues Marvel Creators and Families

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2417 - Disney Sues Marvel Creators and Families

Today's share:

https://www.themarysue.com/disney-sues-marvel-creators-families-to-keep-full-control-over-character-rights/

Disney Sues Marvel Creators’ Families To Keep Full Control Over Character Rights

Disney and Marvel are trying to block copyright terminations for the Avengers.

By Chelsea SteinerSep 26th, 2021, 2:54 pm

Over the past 13 years, Disney and Marvel have earned a staggering $22.93 billion dollars in total worldwide box office revenue for the Marvel cinematic universe. And that sum does not include merchandise, toys, clothing, theme park tickets, and the myriad ways that Disney profits off of the characters of the MCU. Yet while Disney and Marvel rake in billions of dollars, little (if any) of that money goes to the creators (or their descendants) who invented lucrative characters like Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Black Widow, the Winter Soldier, Spider-Man, Falcon, and many more.

Disney is now suing the families of Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Gene Colan, and other creators in an preemptive attempt to challenge copyright termination notices that have been (or will be) submitted by these creators’ estates. In August, Ditko’s estate filed a notice of termination on Spider-Man. According to the termination provisions of copyright law, authors or their estates can reclaim rights once granted to publishers after a set period of time. The filing says that Marvel would have to give up its full rights to Spider-Man in 2023. Disney and Marvel are now facing notices of termination from several creators and their heirs, who are seeking compensation for the sue of their characters.

Me when I thought we were literally gonna lose all the Marvel characters

Vs

Me when I realized Disney would just have to pay more to the families of the creators. pic.twitter.com/o9QGRWSv2P

— ◊✪➳ϟ✇⧗۞⎊⍟︽✵︽Jay︽✵︽⍟ ⎊ ۞ ⧗ ✇ϟ➳✪◊ #BlackLivesMatter (@StormLord96) September 24, 2021

Disney’s lawsuit argues that these characters are not eligible for copyright termination given that they were works made for hire and not owned by the creators themselves. Dan Petrocelli, the attorney representing Marvel, said in a statement, “Since these were works made for hire and thus owned by Marvel, we filed these lawsuits to confirm that the termination notices are invalid and of no legal effect.” But it does not change the fundamental fact that these characters (and their profits) wouldn’t exist without the artists who invented them.

This sets up a David vs. Goliath battle between writers and illustrators who are attempting to extract an ounce of fairness or compensation from a multi-billion dollar conglomerate. While Disney has an army of lawyers at the ready, the costs of continued litigation are too much for most creatives. Unfortunately, precedent is not on their side: in 2012, heirs of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the men who created Superman, sought to reclaim the copyrights of the iconic hero. The case spent years in litigation, only for the courts to side with DC Comics.

Attorney Marc Toberoff, who represented Schuster’s estate, is currently representing the heirs of the Marvel creators. He said in a statement, “At the core of these cases is an anachronistic and highly criticized interpretation of ‘work-made-for-hire’ under the 1909 Copyright Act that needs to be rectified, … We had tremendous support from the artistic community, the former Register of Copyrights, the former Trademark Commissioner, all the Guilds (WGA, SAG, DGA), PEN America, and 237 artists, including a dozen Pulitzer winners. The Kirby case went all the way to the US Supreme Court, which showed keen interest, at which point Disney settled. At the time, I was asked whether I regretted not righting the legal injustice to creators – which I indeed did. I responded that there would be other such cases.”

Marvel’s battle with creator rights has been ongoing, with many writers like Ed Brubaker (who created the Winter Soldier) airing their grievances about seeing little to no money from their blockbuster characters. “There’s nothing preventing anyone at Marvel from looking at how much the Winter Soldier has been used in all this stuff and calling up me and Steve Epting and saying, ‘You know what, we’re going to try to adjust the standard thing so that you guys feel good about this,’” Brubaker said during an appearance on Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin’s Fatman Beyond podcast.

the families of criminally underpaid comic book artists: can we *please* have some of the money you are making off the characters my family created

marvel: no ♥️

well what if you legally have to

marvel: lawsuit ♥️ https://t.co/RHsftbZPnm

— huckeye (@TylerHuckabee) September 24, 2021

Many other creators have struggled with compensation and recognition as well, helpless to watch as the characters they created go on to earn billions in revenue. If Disney/Marvel loses their lawsuit, that does not mean the end of the MCU. It just means that Disney will have to share some of their massive profits with the creators and their families.

“I’ve been offered a [special character contract] that was really, really terrible, but it was that or nothing,” says one unnamed Marvel creator in an interview with The Guardian. “And then instead of honouring it, they send a thank you note and are like, ‘Here’s some money we don’t owe you!’ and it’s five grand. And you’re like, ‘The movie made a billion dollars.’”

(via The Hollywood Reporter, image: Marvel)

Blog Vacation 2021 Post #28

In this blog vacation, I am alternating between reprints, shares with little to no commentary, and THAT ONE THING, which is an image from the folder with a few thoughts scribbled along with it. I am alternating these three modes for twenty days, pre-publishing the posts, and not pushing any of them to social media.

LOW POWER MODE: I sometimes put the blog in what I call LOW POWER MODE. If you see this note, the blog is operating like a sleeping computer, maintaining static memory, but making no new computations. If I am in low power mode, it's because I do not have time to do much that's inventive, original, or even substantive on the blog. This means I am posting straight shares, limited content posts, reprints, often something qualifying for the THAT ONE THING category and other easy to make posts to keep me daily. That's the deal. Thanks for reading.

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2109.30 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2281 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2416 - More stuff about DUNE

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2416 - More stuff about DUNE

I am very excited for the new Dune movie that comes out October 22nd.

I am re-reading the book for the fifth time, third via audio.

Here's some good stuff.


DUNE CHRONOLOGY

Here is the much requested list of Dune novels and short stories in Chronological Order

 

1.        "Hunting Harkonnens" (Included in Tales of Dune)

2.       The Butlerian Jihad

3.        "Whipping Mek" (Included in Tales of Dune)

4.       The Machine Crusade

5.        "The Faces of a Martyr" (Included in Tales of Dune)

6.       The Battle of Corrin

7.       Sisterhood of Dune

8.       Mentats of Dune

9.        "Red Plague" (takes place immediately before Navigators of Dune; Included in Tales of Dune)

10.    Navigators of Dune

11.    House Atreides

12.    House Harkonnen

13.     "Blood and Water" (standalone excerpt from House Harkonnen)

14.    House Corrino

15.     “Fremen Justice” (Also published as “Nighttime Shadows of Open Sand,” standalone excerpt from House Corrino)

16.     “Wedding Silk” (Included in Tales of Dune)

17.    The Duke of Caladan

18.     The Lady of Caladan (forthcoming)

19.     The Heir of Caladan (forthcoming)

20.     Frank Herbert's Dune

21.     “A Whisper of Caladan Seas” (takes place during events of Dune; Included in Tales of Dune)

22.     "The Waters of Kanly" (takes place during events of Dune; Included in the short story collection, Infinite Stars edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt)

23.    Paul of Dune

24.     Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah

25.    The Winds of Dune

26.     Frank Herbert's Children of Dune

27.     Frank Herbert's God-Emperor of Dune

28.     Frank Herbert's Heretics of Dune

29.     Frank Herbert's Chapterhouse; Dune

30.     “Sea Child” (takes place during events of Chapterhouse; Dune; Included in Tales of Dune)

31.    Hunters of Dune

32.     “Treasure in the Sand” (takes place immediately before Sandworms of Dune; Included in Tales of Dune)

33.    Sandworms of Dune Also of interest

·         The Road to Dune

·         Tales of Dune

·         Dreamer of Dune Short Story Publication History

“Whisper of Caladan Seas” (1999) “Blood and Water” (2000)

“Fremen Justice” (also published as “Nighttime Shadows of Open Sand”) (2001) “Hunting Harkonnens” (2002)

“Whipping Mek” (2003)

“The Faces of a Martyr” (2004) “Sea Child” (2006)

“Treasure in the Sand” (2009) “Wedding Silk” (2011)

“Red Plague” (2016)

“The Waters of Kanly”(2017)

FULL TIME LINE OF THE DUNE UNIVERSE




DUNE: WHAT HAPPENED TO EARTH?

THE SPACING GUILD OF DUNE



DUNE EXTENDED - ALTERNATE ENDING (Lynch version)




FIBE MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE DUNE SAGA



WHY YOU SHOULD READ DUNE BY FRANK HERBERT



WHAT'S THE POINT OF DUNE?



WHY PAUL IS NOT THE HERO OF DUNE



DUNE: THE NAVIGATORS OF THE SPACING GUILD



THE REASON PEOPLE DON'T LIKE DUNE



FRANK HERBERT ON THE ORIGINS OF DUNE



ORIGINAL DUNE SAGA: THE MACHINE CRUSADE

This post is not part of the current blog vacation.

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2109.29 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2280 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2415 - T-shirt REPRINT - Hawaii, The Land, and the Kilauea Lodge

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2415 - T-shirt REPRINT - Hawaii, The Land, and the Kilauea Lodge

Blog Vacation 2021 Post #27

In this blog vacation, I am alternating between reprints, shares with little to no commentary, and THAT ONE THING, which is an image from the folder with a few thoughts scribbled along with it. I am alternating these three modes for twenty days, pre-publishing the posts, and not pushing any of them to social media.

LOW POWER MODE: I sometimes put the blog in what I call LOW POWER MODE. If you see this note, the blog is operating like a sleeping computer, maintaining static memory, but making no new computations. If I am in low power mode, it's because I do not have time to do much that's inventive, original, or even substantive on the blog. This means I am posting straight shares, limited content posts, reprints, often something qualifying for the THAT ONE THING category and other easy to make posts to keep me daily. That's the deal. Thanks for reading.

Reprinted from:  Tuesday, December 31, 2013

T-shirt #285 - Hawaii, the Land, and the Kilauea Lodge

Here's a suggestion for my fans and friends: use the above as graffiti. I want to see the quote above on a bathroom stall or on a highway underpass or a railway car.

As you can see my wife posted it, and I think it's a fitting way to the end the year.

The quote captures the spirit of what I have tried to provide since March 22nd on these pages.

And I want to start today's post by proclaiming loud and clear: "I believe."

T-shirt #285 - Hawaii, the Land, and the Kilauea Lodge

Today is a picture fest. I realized the other day that I let my Hawaii trip shuffle through the cracks. I still have three shirts (counting today's) from my Hawaii trip to feature on the blog. So, I figured it was time to get busy. Welcome to the photo fest, dedicated to my wife Liesel.

When I originally planned this blog entry, I decided to extend my story from Christmas Day on the Greatest Gift Ever for how Liesel and I met (re-met, actually as I will explain), fell in love, and got married, the last of which, the marriage part, was the subject of T-shirt #279. My plan formed a nice capstone: marriage in the Christmas Day post and falling in love in the New Year's Eve post. Then it occurred to me that there's a more significant day coming up to commemorate: the date of our first date, which by the time I report on it, will be five years ago to the day (January 10th). So, you, dear reader, have this awesome story to look forward to. Meanwhile, I restrict myself to a travel log, returning to comic books tomorrow for an early Weekly Comic List post, and then sundry and various, some easy, some pre-written, as Mr. T-shirt Blogger Man takes a little blog vacation for the visit of his best friend, the Lord of Chaos. Just a little preview of what's to come.

Today's shirt  was purchased at a cool little shop in downtown Hilo on Hawaii, the Big Island, called Hawaiian Force. The shop is run by local activists who believe in the spirit of the land, which is a "mainland" to them. I learned that many people on Hawaii do not like that the rest of the United States is called "the mainland" and Hawaii is referred to as just an island, so these folks refer to the rest as "the continent" and Hawaii as "the land."


I am sorry that the picture below is a bit blurry. The shirt bears the inscription in Hawaiian, which means "How you care for the land, is how the land cares for you."

One thing I was told that stuck with me was a story shared by the tour guide who took us to the top of Mauna Kea (which I have written about -- see T-shirt #197 and  T-shirt #198 and I have more to share about it). He talked about the way many Hawaiians believe that the land is sacred and that taking anything from the island that is not freely given, even a little sand in a jar, will bring great misfortune upon the thief of the sacred land. He told us this story standing next to an altar on our way up the mountain. The altar was made of many sacred stones, family stones, special stones that had been in families for many generations. He told us of a special office kept by the Volcano National Park that has hundreds, possibly thousands of packages of sand, stones, and all kinds material taken from the island that people later regretted taking, possibly because of all the misfortune that they began to suffer, and so they returned the items in the hopes of balancing the karmic scales.

The guide, Deano, talked for quite a while, and I cannot recreate all that he shared, but one bit struck me. When he decided to become a guide, he spoke with many elders of the families on the Big Island, so that he could best represent it, its people, and its spirit in taking people on what would be, for many of them, one of the most memorable experiences of their lives as they journey to the top of Mauna Kea. He shared what one old Auntie said to him. When someone takes a rock or a jar of sand from the island, it's like cutting off her ear or her little finger and taking the piece away to the continent. "Would you cut off my ear to take with you? Would you cut off one of my fingers?" she asked. This, she explained, is what it felt like to have someone take something from Hawaii that was not meant to leave, something that was a part of Hawaii and it's spirit.

Essentially this story illuminates the shirt's inscription.

"How you care for the land, is how the land cares for you."

HAWAIIAN TRAVEL LOG part # Unknown

When we stayed on Hawaii in October, Liesel's Aunt and Uncle gave us a night in Kilauea Lodge in the village of Volcano (named for the, um, volcano...), as a way to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary. It was a lovely time, so some of the pictures to follow are from that stay, but I included a few others with a theme of the land and caring for the land. I insert a bit of text in between some of the shots.

The photo to the right is from the Ribbentrop's backyard. Below is my favorite tree from the entire trip. It's in Hilo, near the downtown area. It's a shower tree or Rainbow Shower Tree, though at this time it was not so rainbowed. I feel strongly spiritually connected to this tree and trees like it. Something about it speaks to me. The sense of shelter is palpable.

When I saw this tree, I had a strong desire to live in Hawaii.

These are the majority of the pictures I shot when were at the Lodge, except the first two, which are from the Lodge's website.

The dining room. This was taken at breakfast the next morning.

My dinner. German chef's meatloaf. AMAZING and delicious.

The lovely place setting for our anniversary dinner.

 I really liked this "Friendship" fireplace, with many Rotary plaques from all over the world.

The German influence is also clear again here with the steins.

I tried for a close up of one of the plaques from England (below) but it did not come up too clearly.

Many shots from the gardens. These are mainly what I had in mind with the shirt today and its inscription. I could research all these plants and give identification, but that's way too much. Just enjoy the visual beauty. Though the pictures my wife took were much better.

Above is the backside of the secondary lodge house (there's two) where we stayed.

Yes, I was quite fascinated with getting a good picture of this flower. Not sure that I succeeded.

Here's the hot tub where we has a pre-dinner soak and Liesel asked me to read Night Film as I explained in T-shirt #204 (the first mention in which I explained how Liesel asked me to read it) and T-shirt #215 with the review once I finished it.

View from the hot tub.

The next two shots are of the Lodge common room.

Our room.

Anniversary love at the Kilauea Lodge.

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 80 shirts remaining

- chris tower - first published - 1312.31 - 19:32
final publication - 1401.01 - 8:12

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2109.28 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2279 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.