Despite its market success in the 60’s and 70’s – including some Saturday Morning Television animation as well as a couple of live action television series– by the 80’s and 90’s Marvel, as a corporate entity, was sliding into serious debt. Having those rights in hand may have proved more than just a wise precaution. Lee had a hand in crafting that arrangement also. The mark is controlled jointly by DC and Marvel, I suspect that the wily Mr. Outside of the comics industry, not many people know that the term “Super Hero” (and a few variants thereof) is a registered trademark for a variety of products. Basically, trademark applies to things a consumer could physically handle, such as toys, tee-shirts, and coffee mugs. Trademark rights, of course, are distinct from those of the copyright in characters.
This indicates how powerful good IP can really be, both in making money and in developing “mind share” among both kids and adults. It’s become part of our culture, worldwide: ‘Everybody knows’ about Spider-Man, The Hulk, Iron Man and the rest.
Marvel has made a huge amount of money from licensing its trademarks – which range from the names of characters to the look of many of those characters – not only in toy-related fields but further afield. Merchandise licensing, when successful in the marketplace, can be very lucrative. Lee was also deeply involved in developing Marvel’s licensing business. After Kirby’s passing and some court-based recognition of the limitations of the “work made for hire” doctrine, his family brought a suit which resulted in a settlement, providing Kirby with recognition and attribution credits, as well as providing the family with an income stream and it appears that both sides are now satisfied Ī Superhero Trademark, or a Trademark Superhero? And therefore remained under the control of the publisher. Most of their work was (very probably, but not certainly and not always) created under the “ work made for hire” doctrine of copyright. They created characters for other comics’ industry outfits, including arch-rival DC. While Lee stayed with Marvel until his retirement from active writing, editing and publishing in the 1990s (but remaining as Chairman Emeritus of the company until his death in honor of the tremendous value he brought to the company over the years)-Jack Kirby and other contributors such as Joe Simon and Steve Ditko were positioned more like freelancers. Later -as happens with much successful IP it seems- there arose disputes about rights. This, however, led to IP difficulties later. Marvel become known for what came to be called “the Marvel System,” which was a project management & production arrangement entailing multiple inputs from multiple contributors, who were thus kept busy cranking out product.
Had early stage Marvel needed to acquire the rights to these, the costs might have been prohibitive.Īlthough Lee took on a more managerial role in this period, he remained a writer and strong creative contributor across many of the titles. They were inherited from Timely’s publications in the late 30’s and early 40’s. Returning to the firm after his service in World War II, Lee apparently nearly gave up on writing for comics but, in creative partnership with Kirby, they broke through with The Fantastic Four in 1961.įortunately for Lee and Marvel, Captain America, the Human Torch (later a member of the Fantastic Four) and Namor the Submariner were each already in the Marvel family, enabling the company to build on a solid foundation. Cap was the creation of Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, creative names with which Lee’s would long be entwined. The business entity – and IP owner - was then known as Timely Comics, later Atlas Comics, and eventually, at the dawn of the 60’s, Marvel Comics. Stan Lee was many things, and among them, he was an outstandingly successful entrepreneur of intellectual property.Īs it turns out, in 1941 Lee scripted a story which ran in the wartime Captain America (affectionately known as ‘Cap’) comic. I’m focusing on his success as someone who brought his creative expression to market, to the enjoyment of what eventually became an audience of millions. By Dave Davis, Copyright Clearance CenterĪs the many and well-deserved accolades for Stan Lee pour in on the occasion of his death after a career in content creation -mostly in writing- that spanned six decades, I thought now might be a suitable moment to add an additional perspective.