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Posts: 7802
Mar 20 10 5:32 AM
I'm a practical person and all for practical solutions, the most elegant solution is settlement out of court. Heck Disney/Marvel can spin it in such away that they could probably defray the costs as public relations.I don't know how principled the Kirbys are but going for copyrights just seems like a waste of time. If they receive sufficient remuneration, they will effectively receive the financial support AND opportunities Jack worked so hard to give them in life. That has a nice sense of poetic justice to them.If subsequently fumble the ball and squander the settlement, then that is their responsibility.Now, the question is what would be a fair and feasible settlement?Stan received a million bucks a year plus a hefty settlement recently so I figure Stan was paid at least 30 million bucks in the past 3 decades.I would consider that fair for the Kirbys but I don't think Marvel/Disney would go for it.Now if we look at Marvel's most significant, money-generating properties, I think it safe to say that almost everyone would agree that Jack made a significant contribution to:
The FF (including the supporting cast of important ancillary characters like; Silver Surfer, Black Panther, Dr. Doom, the Inhunmans, Galactus)The X-Men (ditto; Magneto, the Sentinels) Thor (ditto; Odin, Baldur, Hela, Heimdall, Mangog, Loki)Captain America (ditto; Red Skull, Batroc (okay, okay)The HulkOf course strong arguments could be made about other properties but the above seem unassailable. The Avengers for instance was merely a collection of already established properties so I wouldn't describe Jack's contribution to the title as "significant".
I think a million bucks per property is a fair so five millions dollars for the Kirby's seems to me to be a nice sum. Not large enough for Disney/Marvel to sweet it but big enough to be seen as a moral victory and more significantly, big enough to give the Kirby estate financial security now and - if they play their cards right - in the future.
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