Gary Friedrich Enterprises LLC v. Marvel Enterprises Inc.(Ghost Rider lawsuit Update)

[DarknessFalls]

http://www.law.com/jsp/nylj/PubArticleNY.jsp?id=1202432016558&iGary_Friedrich_Enterprises_LLC_v_Marvel_Enterprises_Inci

You must register to see the entire case history but I've posted the conclusion below. I'd recommend registering and checking it out.

"Conclusion
For the reasons set forth above, I recommend that the defendants' motion be granted, and the plaintiffs' state law and Lanham Act claims be dismissed. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §636(b)(1) and Rules 72, 6(a), and 6(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the parties shall have ten (10) days from this date to file written objections to this Report and Recommendation. Such objections shall be filed with the Clerk of the Court, with extra copies delivered to the chambers of the Honorable Barbara S. Jones, Room 1920, and to the chambers of the undersigned, Room 1960, 500 Pearl Street, New York, New York 10007. Failure to file timely objections will preclude appellate review."

Defendant is Marvel in this case, amongst others. Plantiff is Gary Friedrich. Personally I've though all along Gary was trying to pull a fast one and was grasping at straws here because of a technicality so he could get the rights back and make some quick money. Whether you like the film or not, and whether you like Gary or not isn't the point here...his claims are mostly ridiculous.

More at Marvel Movies! on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6649183874

 

[Hypestyle]

curious...

 

[hellfiremaster]

I wanna sue Gary Friedrich for creating a character that was turned into an abismal movie that I wasted 12 bucks on...

HFM

 

[Midnyte_Sun]

So the guy who helped create the Ghost Rider character for Marvel is now getting no financial compensation by Marvel, even after making over 200 million profit off the movie and his ideas.

How is that fair?

 

[Nivek]

Did he create the character while working for Marvel, or before? And which "Ghost Rider" did he create? The Biker with the flaming skull, or the cowboy in the glow in the dark costume?

 

[DarknessFalls]

From what I understand he created the original character outside of Marvel. Then continued working on it with Marvel and gave or sold them the rights to Marvel under Stan Lee. Then he claims Marvel failed to re-register them in time so he walked in and claimed the copyright. AT which point he made a statement on video during an interview that if Marvel makes a movie he'd sue them for millions. Then Ghost Rider came out it made a good amount of money and he claimed it wasn't marketed right, it was released at the wrong time, and they misused the character. #1 it's Marvel's character, #2 he should have done a cease and desist when they were making it if it was his, #3 he's just trying to make a quick buck cause he's bitter he sold rights and it did well. #4 Ghost Rider couldn't have competed with Summer films release date was fine.

Of course the movie could have been way better but that's a whole different topic.