Marvel has settled a lawsuit bound for the United States Supreme Court that pitted the comic-book company against the family of the artist who helped create such superheroes as Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk.
Heirs of Jack Kirby, who worked at Marvel alongside Stan Lee in the 1960s and died in 1994, wanted to terminate Marvel's copyrights from 2014 through 2019 to comics published from 1958 to 1963. But Marvel argued that since Kirby created the characters while working for Marvel, the characters belong to the company. The case went to court, and in 2011 US District Judge Colleen McMahon concluded the work was done "for hire", a legal term that rendered the heirs' claims invalid.
An appeals court agreed, and in August a federal appeals court rejected an ownership claim by the Kirby family. The case had been set to go to the Supreme Court.
"Marvel and the family of Jack Kirby have amicably resolved their legal disputes," they said jointly. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
