Under the 1976 copyright act, artistic works still in their initial term of copyright protection on January 1, 1978 were given two terms of protection.  An initial term of 28 years and a renewal term of 67 years. Gary Friedrich, the creator of the popular Ghost Rider comic book character first published by Marvel Comics in 1972, sued Marvel claiming copyright infringement of by Marvel for publishing Ghost Rider works after 2000, the expiration of […]

On April 21, 2011 a federal jury in the central district of California found that Mattel failed to prove any of its claims related to the popular Bratz line of dolls against MGA Entertainment, Inc. (“MGA”).   In fact, in reading through the copyright jury verdict, it was not even close.  The jury completely sided with MGA and found that Mattel owes MGA $88 Million for violating MGA’s trade secrets.  This is a complete reversal […]