Gary Friedrich - Co-creator of Ghost Rider
Gary Friedrich is the artist who is credited as the co-creator of Marvel’s Ghost Rider character. No longer working in the comics industry, Friedrich filed a copyright lawsuit against Marvel Comics back when the first Ghost Rider film was coming out. That film grossed over $225 million worldwide and continues to make money with sales and rentals. And now, just in time for the sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, news has emerged that Marvel has won the lawsuit and Friedrich will not be retaining any ownership in the Ghost Rider character that he helped create, nor will be be due any money from Marvel Comics.
But Mr. Friedrich’s loss doesn’t end there. Not satisfied with simply defeating the case brought by Gary Friedrich, Marvel Comics has gone on the offensive. Now, after the court declared Ghost Rider the sole property of Marvel Comics, the company is forcing Friedrich to provide an accounting of every dollar he made from selling commissions and other Ghost Rider related material. Essentially, Marvel is using Friedrich’s original reasoning from his lawsuit against him. If Marvel would have had to pay him for money they made off the Ghost Rider property (assuming he had won), then Marvel is now saying that Friedrich owes it some cash for all of that Ghost Rider art that he may have sold at conventions and to dealers over the years. Ouch.
The legal fight over Ghost Rider is getting nasty
To quote from a very interesting post appearing over at 20th Century Danny Boy…
“As per the courts instructions Friedrich has to account for any and all money that he has received, ‘…relating to the gross and net amount derived from Plaintiffs’ sale of goods bearing the Ghost Rider image, likeness, or Marvel trademark.’ This means that Friedrich has to account for every cent each and every time he sold a print at a convention or any other item to anyone, that has the Ghost Rider image or name on it, and he has to account to all of the defendants in the case, and there’s quite a few of those, including, but not limited to, Marvel Defendants, Movie Defendants, Hasbro, Inc. and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. If the defendants don’t like, or don’t agree with, the numbers that Friedrich supplies then they can, and probably will, ask for a deposition whereby they can question him, under oath.”
No doubt, Marvel is doing this to prove a point. Gary Friedrich just recently lost his job as a corporate courier, is suffering from various medical problems, and has so far accumulated over $100,000 in legal bills. The chances of Marvel getting any money from Friedrich is remote, at best. However, Marvel isn’t looking to recoup a few thousand dollars in licensing fees from Friedrich. Instead, this action is meant, in my opinion, to send a message to other comic professionals; If you take us to court over characters that you worked on or even created for us, be prepared to lose everything if you lose. The goal here is to destroy Gary Friedrich and use him as an example of what could happen if you try what he tried.
And here’s where I get myself in trouble and have people start calling me names and removing me from Christmas card mail lists. I actually agree with Marvel on this one. I also sided with Marvel during its legal battle with the family of Jack Kirby. While I’m sure this makes me a monster in the eyes of many (most?) comic fans, I just fail to see why Marvel should be legally obligated to pay these people anything. When Friedrich and Kirby agreed to work for Marvel, the deal that they signed up for absolutely didn’t say, “And if this makes us a whole lot of money, we’ll share it with you.” That didn’t happen. Do I think it would be nice if Marvel did share something with these creators? Sure. But should they be forced to by a court order? Absolutely not. If Friedrich or Kirby wanted to own the rights to their creations, they should have self-published and obtained copyrights for their characters. They can’t change the deal they originally agreed to, decades after the fact.
Again, I absolutely understand that I’m in the minority on this. However, I just can’t understand the logic that Marvel “owes” Friedrich anything. Marvel paid him for his work and he no doubt cashed all of those checks. To me, coming back and asking for millions is a combination of sour grapes and regret. I feel bad for Gary Friedrich and, really, I’m sorry he didn’t enter into a more favorable deal when he originally signed on with Marvel. However, in my opinion, Friedrich should have lost this case and I’m okay with the fact that he did.
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