Jack Kirby: Work for Hire Courtney Young 6320 Fall 2011

Statement of Facts Jack Kirby worked for Marvel comics as a freelance artist from the mid 1950's to

The Big Idea Kirby's estate (his four children) filled a lawsuit against Marvel for several issues that Marvel published between Kirby's estate was trying to stop Marvel from using his copyright. Marvel counters that Kirby was not the owner of the copyright.

The Real Issue Were Kirby's creations done under “work-for-hire” covered by the Copyright Act of 1909?

Law Under the copyright law, the creator of the original expression in a work is its author. The author is also the owner of copyright unless there is a written agreement by which the author assigns the copyright to another person or entity, such as a publisher. In cases of works made for hire, the employer or commissioning party is considered to be the author.

Outcome The judge decided that the work done by Jack Kirby was covered under the “work-for-hire” copyright and the work belonged to Marvel.

References Justia docets and filings (2010). Retrieved from courts/new-york/nysdce/1:2010cv00141/356975/113/ courts/new-york/nysdce/1:2010cv00141/356975/113/ Daniel Best. 20 th century danny boy (2011). Retrieved from Wikipedia:Jack Kirby (2011). Retrieved from US Copyright Office. Definitions. Retrieved from