Business 10th Edition by Ferrell,Geoffrey Hirt,Linda Ferrell

تمرين 24

Marvel Comics Wins Work Made-for-Hire Copyright Case
Copyrights protect works created by the author, including artwork, writing, music, movies, and any other artistic work that is fixed or stable. However, there are exceptions in cases where the work is produced by an author hired by another party for the specific purpose of creating the work. The Copyright Act of 1909 states that any work made-for-hire belongs to the employer rather than the author.
Marvel Comics won a copyright dispute of this nature. Jack Kirby, who died in 1994, was the mind behind many of Marvel Comics' most famous characters, including Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, and X-Men. In 2009, his children notified Marvel Comics that they intended to take back the copyrights to characters created by their father. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the characters rightfully belonged to Marvel Comics. Because Mr. Kirby was under contract, the characters fall under the definition of work made-for-hire in copyright law. His children appealed to the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The judge again ruled that the characters belong to Marvel Comics.
The characters under consideration are profitable figures for Marvel Comics and its parent company Walt Disney. In 2013, the Iron Man 3 movie brought in more than $400 million. It is, therefore, a high priority for Marvel to defend its intellectual property. 81
Why is it important for companies or individuals to defend their intellectual property?