3 Count: Avengers Assemble

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1: Marvel Settles ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Doctor Strange’ Copyright Lawsuits

First off today, Kristen Lopez at The Wrap reports that Marvel has reached a settlement in a copyright termination case against the estate of artist Steve Ditko, bringing an end to the last of five such cases.

The story began in 2021 when a series of artists’ estate filed copyright termination notices, attempting to reclaim the rights to the characters created by the deceased artists. This prompted Marvel to launch lawsuits challenging the terminations, claiming that the works were work-made-for-hire and didn’t qualify for copyright termination.

This settlement, which was described by both sides as “amicable” brings an end to the final of those five cases. Those cases involve a wide variety of characters, including The Avengers, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and more. The settlement also means that all the characters are cleanly owned by Marvel, setting them up for future films and comics.

2: Piracy Shield: Pirate IPTV Killer Goes Live, No Casualties to Report….Yet

Next up today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that, in Italy, the new nationwide anti-piracy system named Piracy Shield has gone online, though it likely will not be fully operational for some time.

Passed as part of a larger copyright act over the summer, Piracy Shield is an automated system that local ISPs use to update their pirate site block list. They hope that the system will heavily deter piracy in the country, in particular sports-related piracy.

The act required the system to go online by December 7th, which it did. However, that does not mean that the system is functional with ISPs needing time to integrate it into their networks and concerns that the system, while online, is not completed. It is unclear when the first blocks will take place through the system.

3: Adam McKay Accused of Using Self-Published Novel as ‘Don’t Look Up’ Inspiration in Lawsuit

Finally today, Pat Saperstein at Variety reports that writer-director Adam McKay is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by a self-published author who claims McKay’s 2021 comedy Don’t Look Up is an infringement.

The lawsuit was filed by author William Collier who claims that Don’t Look Up is substantially similar to his earlier book entitled Stanley’s Comet. According to the lawsuit, this includes themes and plot points that are shared between the two works.

Collier claims that McKaey learned about his work through his daughter, who was working for his management company when he sent her a draft of the book in 2007. Netflix, the makers of the film, have not responded.

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