sfcityduck wrote:
Is your intent here to argue that this decision vindicates those who say that Kirby had no role in creating Marvel's characters?
I don't see anyone saying that. First off, even in this suit, Lee freely admits that Jack created the Silver Surfer all by himself. And no matter how elaborate or how skimpy his "plot outlines" were, Lee also admits (and the judge acknowledged) that "the Marvel Method" gave the artists more opportunity for creating characters than was the industry standard.

The credits in the Marvel movies also acknowledge this as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Larry Leiber, and Don Heck have all received credit.

It seems clear the judge agrees with what has always been the conventional wisdom: Jack & Stan co-created the Fantastic Four, co-created the Hulk, and co-created Thor.The issue of Spider-Man has always been a little more thorny but it seems clear that Jack played a part in the character's development - even if it was simply to bring in an old idea of Joe Simon's. But the character of Spider-Man that was actually published and that developed into Marvel's most valuable property was primarily the co-creation of Steve Ditko and Stan Lee.