Case Update: Friedrich v. Marvel et al.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Case No. 08-cv-01533, filed 2007

Originally filed in 2007, Gary Friedrich sued Marvel for infringing upon a character, Ghost Rider, that he created for the publisher. 

The District Court ruled in favor of Marvel in a motion for summary judgment, dismissing the case and holding that Marvel had ownership of the character.  Furthermore, the court found that Friedrich had infringed upon Marvel's copyright and he was ordered to pay $17,000 in damages for profits from the sale of merchandise.  The court claimed that it was unnecessary to look at whether the initial relationship was a work-for-hire relationship or not because there were two specific instances when Friedrich signed over rights to Marvel.

After the ruling, Friedrich appealed to the Second Circuit, and the case has since been remanded to the District Court for trial.  A status conference was held on June 27, 2013, to establish how the case will proceed.  As always, as the case progresses, we will update accordingly.