Gary Friedrich, co-creator of Ghost Rider, recently lost his longtime battle against Marvel for theatrical character rights and restitution of profits from 2008’s Ghost Rider. The court ruled in Marvel’s favor twice in also demanding Friedrich pay $17,000 for prints he’s sold at shows. In addition, he is no longer allowed to say that he’s the creator of Ghost Rider for financial gain. How does Friedrich earning a bit of income from a true statement hurt Marvel? The obvious answer is, IT DOESN’T.
Marvel Comics makes millions and Disney billions, yet they want to hurt the unemployed Friedrich by making him pay what’s pocket change to them? Marvel will soon learn that $17,000 is not worth their reputation. Many fans are planning to boycott Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the movie sequel out next week. While this may not put a dent in the box office, it will certainly have long reaching effects when these same fans stop buying comics. I know quite a few people who are planning to drop all Marvel titles from their pull files.
If this ruling sticks, it could cripple Friedrich, and if this ruling sticks, it has the potential to upset the income of many more.
“Getting original art has become a personal tradition when I go to cons. It’s one of my favorite parts!” Ryan Dalton, one of my Twitter lovelies, tweets a sentiment shared by many con goers. However, wth the court’s ruling, we may be seeing the end of such treats.
I have a Jeremy Haun Batman piece hanging above my desk. I hope to one day have a collection of X-Men and the best of DC’s women drawn by a variety of my favorite artists. If the creator of a character cannot profit from signing anything but officially licensed items, how long before freelance artists aren’t allowed to profit from drawing characters they didn’t create?
From the mouth of one of Marvel’s own, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Marvel certainly has the power to shut down Friedrich but shouldn’t they be responsible for taking care of their own? Friedrich undoubtedly should be considered one of their own. He created a character that Marvel is profitting from and while I understand “work for hire” contracts, Marvel shouldn’t be able to toss aside creators like they did with Dave Cockrum and Jack Kirby.
I have said for many years that I’m a Marvel girl through and through but now I say it with shame. Perhaps I should instead say that I’m an X-Men and Spider-Man girl, or that I adore Kirby, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (I really do!). It definitely wasn’t a greedy corporation that captured my interest but it will be them who loses it.
Congratulations on shackling the imaginations of your creators, Marvel. Spirit of Vengeance indeed.
Jen is working on a young adult urban fantasy novel called Slacker Heroes and a collection of pop culture essays. She makes room in her heart for both Bobby Drake and Batman. You can catch her on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
A message from Gary Friedrich, who plans to appeal this ruling:
Since the various news agencies and websites have reported the ruling against me on my claims against Marvel in the Ghost Rider lawsuit, and the assesment of a $17,000 judgment against me and my company instead, I have read an amazing amount of comments in my support on the internet, and have received many messages of support directly. Although the reports of my employment situation and financial difficulties as well as problems with my health are unfortunately true, I want to let everyone in the comic book world, especially my supporters and fans of the Ghost Rider character which I invented, created, and wrote, that I am going to appeal the Court’s ruling and continue to fight this as long as I am able and that your support of me means more than you will ever know. I have heard your voices. I thank you with alll my heart, and I appreciate your thoughts and best wishes as I soldier on.
Feel free to keep in touch with me via e-mail: fgroovygary@aol.com.
Thanks again and God bless you.
Andrew Mocete
February 11, 2012
Ugh, this is why my Marvel pull list shrunk over the years. I always felt they were after my money more than any of the other publishers. Jacking up the price of everything to 3.99 was the last straw for me. I pretty much stick to the Icon stuff because I think the writers do far better work on their own creations than the Marvel ones. This lawsuit is just further proof of the greed.
Tracy Bryant
February 11, 2012
Isn’t this the same kind of nonsense that made Liefeld, Lee, and Mcfarlane stop doing my favorite Marvel titles and defect to create “Image” in the early nineties? That was the beginning of the end for my love for comics.
Good call on “with great power…”.
Marvel- quit bein dicks.
Seriously.
Craig
February 12, 2012
I wonder what comic book fan — and Ghost Rider star — Nicholas Cage thinks about this story … or if he even knows about it. What a classy move it would be for Cage to write Gary a check that represents some sort of tithe from his Ghost Rider fee.
Craig
February 12, 2012
By the way: Allow me to suggest that EVERYONE who reads this start a Twitter campaign to link to this story — and others like it — using the hashtag #ghostrider (which is how comments about the movie are being tagged) … spread the word!
Tracy Bryant
February 12, 2012
I miss the days of killer Cage flicks like “Red Rock West” & “Wild at Heart”. Just sayin.
Ellie Ann
February 12, 2012
I’m certainly with ya on this one. How can the court even consider this ridiculousness? I will be behind your Kickstarter campaign. Let me know if you need any extra help.
Belkis
February 17, 2012
Love that the comic book industry is coming together help Gary. Every dollar counts! However, there are certain facts that need to be addressed.
Gary sues Marvel first. Marvel countersued and that’s why Gary has to pay up now.
“In addition, he is no longer allowed to say that he’s the creator of Ghost Rider for financial gain.” This is an incorrect statement. The court order him that he can’t sign “Creator of Ghost Rider’ on unlicensed Marvel merchandise.
Also, you can still get original artwork from many artists. The truth is Marvel will not go after them because, unlike Gary, they won’t be suing Marvel anytime soon.
“Marvel Comics makes millions and Disney billions, yet they want to hurt the unemployed Friedrich by making him pay what’s pocket change to them?” They also spend thousands of dollars defending themselves in the past 5 years to defend THEIR copyright on a character. Although Gary conceived the character, he transferred copyrights many years ago. That’s the truth. Suddenly, Gary wanted something to do with the character’s profit when the movie came out. So technically $17,000 is reasonable to collect from copyright infringement.
My advice is that comic book creators learn from this case. It is very important to know what you are getting into when you decide to SUE publishing company like Marvel.
Tracy
February 20, 2012
Ahhhhhh…two sides to every story, indeed.
Thanx for the insight.