Intellectual property is the ownership of the products of one’s mind. “Of significant concern to businesspersons is the need to protect their rights in intellectual property, which in today's world may exceed the value of physical property, such as machines and buildings.” Cross, F. B. (2015) Products of the mind, without having even begun can be more valuable than current assets, intellectual property can mean the future success of a company. In the case of Marvel Worldwide, Inc. v. Kirby the matter of intellectual property was not the issue, rather who owned the copyrights to Kirby’s intellectual property and who had the rights after Kirby’s death. Jack Kirby worked as a free-lance artist creating some iconic characters such as Hulk and
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B. (2015) This was to say that under the law works not made for hire and done before 1978 are subject to termination due to the death of the author. “Works created after January 1, 1978, are automatically given statutory copyright protection for the life of the author plus 70 years. For copyrights owned by publishing houses, the copyright expires 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever comes first. For works by more than one author, the copyright expires 70 years after the death of the last surviving author.” Cross, F. B. (2015) The Kirby heir’s assumption that Kirby owned any of the copyrights was due to the assignment done in 1972 forgoing any rights he “may” have. Marvel argued that, that assignment did not confirm or say Kirby actually owned any of the property before that time. The case was not what many thought it to be, a case over who were the real creators of these works, but whether or not they were works for hire under the Copyright Act of 1909 and there for owned by
B. (2015) This was to say that under the law works not made for hire and done before 1978 are subject to termination due to the death of the author. “Works created after January 1, 1978, are automatically given statutory copyright protection for the life of the author plus 70 years. For copyrights owned by publishing houses, the copyright expires 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever comes first. For works by more than one author, the copyright expires 70 years after the death of the last surviving author.” Cross, F. B. (2015) The Kirby heir’s assumption that Kirby owned any of the copyrights was due to the assignment done in 1972 forgoing any rights he “may” have. Marvel argued that, that assignment did not confirm or say Kirby actually owned any of the property before that time. The case was not what many thought it to be, a case over who were the real creators of these works, but whether or not they were works for hire under the Copyright Act of 1909 and there for owned by