Marvel sues City of Heroes because players COULD create Marvel characters. Petition.

[Aurelian]

I thought this was particularly nasty. Marvel Comics' lawyers have been aggressively going after copyright infringements. Earlier this year, they threatened, and forced the closure, of all "Freedom Force" sites that included fan developed material based on Marvel characters. They went after mods, scenarios, and skins... the whole lot.

Now Marvel is suing the companies that created "City of Heroes" because players COULD theoretically create superheroes that might infringe on Marvel intellectual property.

Here's a story in Wired News about the lawsuit: LINK (http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,65722,00.html)

In response, a petition has started to circulate that threatens Marvel with a boycott if they don't stop their overly aggressive lawsuits.

If Marvel wins their case against City of Heroes, it could be a huge blow to computer gamers. Marvel is threatening basic game ideas like character creation and fan created mods.

If you've got two seconds sign the petition HERE (http://www.petitiononline.com/truehero/petition.html).

[Fragony]

They can never win, then close all paintstores because they sell the paint that can theoratically duplicate a Van Gogh. Very cheap, I guess Marvel has a lot of golddigger lawyers that are specialised in tearing apart disclaimers, looking for a extra cash :furious3:

ps petition signed, god I hate vultures.

[Spino]

[Damn] Marvel. With an ever shrinking market of comic book readers this is about as dumb a move as it gets. It seems those overrated Spiderman and X-Men flicks and the accompanying ancillary harvest (console games, toys, etc.) have given the company a massive boost to its ego and a serious attitude problem to boot. Clearly Marvel's attorneys must have emigrated from Electronic Arts or the Recording Industry. Marvel's infringing on the fans' public expression of love for their favorite superheroes is one surefire way to sabotage their quarterly profit reports. Letting the fans put these custom Freedom Force skins on the internet and allowing them to create such skins in MMORPGs like City of Heroes is essentially free advertising for Marvel!

I never knew that about the Freedom Force Fan sites. As I recall that community was rabidly passionate about their comic book superheroes. It's nice to see that DC doesn't have the same bug up its ass. I hope the new Superman movie in the works pushes DC Comics into the stratosphere and cuts into Marvel's share of the pie.

[barocca]

Due to the everpresent lawyers i cannot make this a news item,

I dont find CoH to be fun personally, but if this suit suceeds then modders everywhere for every game will be severly restricted.

i signed the petition
Cheers,
B.

[Aurelian]

I never knew that about the Freedom Force Fan sites. As I recall that community was rabidly passionate about their comic book superheroes. It's nice to see that DC doesn't have the same bug up its ass.

I ran across this story last night as I was downloading a very well-reviewed DC Comics Mod (http://www.geocities.com/dannyboy2205/main.html) for Freedom Force.

Freedom Force II is coming out in the near future, and Computer Games Magazine (I think) did a cover story on the new game in this month's issue. They also did a review of superhero mods for a number of different games.

Apparently, DC has decided to take an entirely different approach to this issue. All of the Freedom Force DC mod material is still out there for free... the result of fan love and dedication. Almost all of the Marvel stuff, which was probably more extensive, has been taken down.

What a public relations nightmare for Marvel. The City of Heroes and Freedom Force players are more likely to be hardcore comic book fans than your average computer game players, and Marvel's legal team has decided to defecate on their fan base.

Any reasonable group of people would see that the online modding community is a way of building brand loyalty, and bringing people who might not have read comics in years back into the stores.

I do wonder if the earlier decision to go after Freedom Force had anything to do with the creation of the X-Men Legends game that seems to play similarly. I know that Marvel would LIKE to have their own online role-playing game, but they don't seem to be able to get the project rolling.

[ElmarkOFear]

If you guys haven't figured it out yet, it is not about copy-infringement. That is just the medium the Marvel lawyers are using to blackmail the successful City Of Heroes game into giving them a slice of the pie, whether it is a monetary thing, or a forced "partnership".

Companies figure their customer market is fickle and has a short memory (WHich history proves, unfortunately) and Marvel is banking on this. Also, some marketing types feel that "Any public exposure, no matter how bad, is good for the product since it gets its name "out there".

Lastly, Marvel knows how financially draining MMORPG games are to the hosting company and have figure that the company will not try to fight them legally, and give them a share of the profits just to avoid all the legal fees. This is why I call it corporate "blackmail'.

~:)

[Lehesu]

Teh old.

[Kraxis]

Damn I couldn't sign that petition fast enough... And Intend to keep my promis.

If Elmo isn't right and Marvel wins who knows who is next. Someone here for a LOTR mod? Think about that.

[The Scourge]

This would never have happened when ol "Stan the man Lee" was running the show ,and Marvel published the best comics out there.
Oh well :embarassed:

[The_Emperor]

Due to the everpresent lawyers i cannot make this a news item,

I dont find CoH to be fun personally, but if this suit suceeds then modders everywhere for every game will be severly restricted.

i signed the petition
Cheers,
B.

I do not play the game, but I have signed the petition for the same reason as Barocca. If this works it will have major implications for the many modders and other fans out there who create mods and artwork out of passion and enthusiasm for the subject matter.

Regards
Emp.

[Beirut]

I wonder if Hemingway's estate will sue me for owning a typewriter.

I might type out "For whom the bell tolls" and not pay any royalties. ~:eek:

[Mount Suribachi]

ROFL Beirut!! ~D

Oh, I signed the petition btw. Stupid lawyers.... :furious3:

[Colovion]

I signed too.

OOOo, I'm going to DRAW your precious creations. Try sueing me then.

[R'as al Ghul]

Clearly Marvel's attorneys must have emigrated from Electronic Arts or the Recording Industry.
Actually it's probably the other way round. The American Comic Industry has a long tradition of keeping the creators of their succesfull characters dirt-poor. Ever since Superman have creators rights been infringed. I'd like to remind you of the Marv Wolfman lawsuit:

The Blade trial and its accompanying briefs and exhibits constituted a crash course in the comics profession for the judge, and it seems clear that he was especially curious to learn about the unwritten rules and conventions that have guided the behavior and professional expectations of comics creators and publishers. Was there a standard industry-wide practice under which Wolfman or Marvel could have assumed that he or it was the owner of a particular creative property?

Marvel's answer was: Yes, everyone knew if you put something into a Marvel comic, it wasn't yours anymore; all creations were permanent residents of what Marvel called its House of Ideas. Wolfman's answer, however, was that there was no standard practice, that the comics industry allowed for a variety of different arrangements between creator and publisher. In support of this he told anecdotes about writers (Don McGregor, Steve Gerber) he knew who had claimed ownership over characters they had created while working at Marvel. He told about colleagues who had acknowledged Wolfman's control over his characters by seeking his permission whenever those characters were to be used. And when Wolfman ran out of anecdotes, his sole witness -- professional anecdote-teller Mark Evanier -- was called to the stand to tell about things he had heard about the varying circumstances surrounding other comics creators and their creations.

Not present were the protagonists of Wolfman's anecdotes, the creators themselves. No comics creators were called to testify on Wolfman's behalf about their firsthand experiences with publishers. Since much of Wolfman and Evanier's testimony concerned second-hand information, the judge frequently dismissed their comments as hearsay.

The Comic's Journal (http://www.tcj.com/236/wolfman1.html)

Since comic book sales are ever decreasing, Marvel shifted the focus to market their properties to movies and computer games. Actually, if you look at their history this was always their main business. And it seems to work quite well for them. Nice to see though that DC is taking a different approach. They have always been slightly more intelligent.

R'as

[Navaros]

why didn't Wolfman call some witnesses to help him? i sympathsize with him and Marvel should not be ripping him off like that...but it was very stupid legally speaking for Wolfman to not have called tons of witnesses on his own behalf to verify his claim

[LittleGrizzly]

why didn't Wolfman call some witnesses to help him? i sympathsize with him and Marvel should not be ripping him off like that...but it was very stupid legally speaking for Wolfman to not have called tons of witnesses on his own behalf to verify his claim

i assumed it was because they still worked there ?

signed the petition, down with marvel!