Ghost Rider Copyright Case Lives On
Last week, in Gary Friedrich Enters., LLC v. Marvel Enters., Inc., the Second Circuit reversed the lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Gary Friedrich, who created the comic book super hero “Ghost Rider,” ruling that Friedrich could maintain his lawsuit against Marvel Enterprises Inc. regarding his ownership rights in the character.
As we previously reported, SDNY’s summary judgment dismissal of the case hinged on its determination that Friedrich had definitively conveyed by contract to Marvel “all rights . . . including any renewal rights” to Ghost Rider. This turned on two dispositive findings by the Court: 1) at the time of Friedrich’s payment for the initial creation of the character in 1971 and 1972, and his endorsement on the back of his pay check that he was assigning all rights to Marvel; and 2) in a separate contract signed by the parties in 1978, when Friedrich was a freelancer for Marvel and relinquished all rights to the character in exchange for future freelance work.
On appeal, Friedrich argued that Marvel’s copyright in Ghost Rider lapsed in 2001 and reverted to him, the author of the work, under the renewal term of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 304(a)(1)(A). Renewal term rights, which last for 67 years, are more than an extension of the original 28-year copyright term, but rather, are a “new estate” that is clear of all rights, interests or licenses that were granted under the original copyright. These renewal rights are intended to give artists a second chance to exploit their works. Importantly, the Second Circuit explained that an author may assign renewal rights during the copyright’s initial term, but noted the “strong presumption against the conveyance of renewal rights.”
