Recently, Marvel triumphed in court against Gary Friedrich, the creator of Ghost Rider, as to whether any money or rights were owed to him from the use of the characters in movies, with the second movie starring Nicolas Cage on its way.
And while the court decided that Marvel owe Gary nothing, they also decided on a counter claim from Marvel, that Gary Friedrich owes $17,000 for selling prints of the Ghost Rider character at conventions and the like.
This represents Gary’s earnings from selling such prints over several years – but now Gary is penniless. And Marvel is demanding payment now. Oh, and that he is not allowed to say he is the creator of Ghost Rider for financial gain, say by doing an interview, in the future.
Marvel was recently bought by Disney for $4 billon. Nicolas Cage recently sold his copy of Action Comics #1 for over 2 million, and will have received similar for starring in Ghost Rider 2.
Gary Friedrich, the creator of Ghost Rider is, however, penniless.
This is outrageous.
From Friedrich’s Wiki page:
U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest ruled on December 28, 2011, that Marvel Entertainment owned the character, saying Friedrich gave up any ownership claim when he signed checks containing language relinquishing all rights.
Sometimes I really hate IP law in this country.
The Big Two continue to fuck over the creators of the characters they make millions of dollars off, news at eleven.
(via 4xontuesdays)
