Marvel Sues Disney Over Animated Television Rights

[Stu]

Hey,

Marvel is currently suing Disney for $16 million over the television rights to Marvel's animated shows.

Toon Zone News (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?p=1347683#post1347683post1347683) has the details.

Comments?

[Spider-Friends]

I'm sure The Thing cartoon that we have been discussing, in the 'worst cartoon' thread, is not owned by Buena Vista either.

This is NOT good news for more DVD releases.

[Tobias]

As long as this doesn't lead to all the Marvel shows being pulled from ABC Family/Toon Disney.

[GL2k2]

:D

Some more good news from the demise of Disney. I hope Marvel wins and takes the rights to all of their toons while they're at it, they have enough money to release it themselves now.

[krazymed]

It only spells gloom and doom for Marvel DVDs released by Disney, which are such jokes that I certainly won't miss them. With all of the money Marvel is making now, I wonder if they can just take back the library. Look no further than the "I hate Eisner" threads for examples that Disney only cares about itself and anyone else along for the ride can expect to get buried in its self-promotion. Marvel doesn't need them.

[Mad Monkey 7]

Disney owns the rightl so Marvel can't buy unless Disney agree to sell. Making them angry doesn't help, Disney will hold on to the library and not use it like Time Warner with Popeye.

[Tobias]

Isn't EVERY Marvel series owned by Disney at the moment? I mean, except for-

-MTV's Spider-Man
-X-Men Evolution
-The HB Fantastic Four
-The Torchless FF series (With H.E.R.B.I.E. The mechanical Scrappy)

That would kind of hurt Marvel if Disney locked all there shows in a vault just to be spiteful.

[Jeff Harris]

Isn't EVERY Marvel series owned by Disney at the moment? I mean, except for-

-MTV's Spider-Man
-X-Men Evolution
-The HB Fantastic Four
-The Torchless FF series (With H.E.R.B.I.E. The mechanical Scrappy)
They also don't own the HB Thing series nor the "almost Marvel" titles Biker Mice From Mars, Men in Black, and Ultraforce.

That would kind of hurt Marvel if Disney locked all there shows in a vault just to be spiteful.It wouldn't surprise me. I'm just glad somewhere in the NYC HQ of Marvel finally woke up and said "HOLY CRAP, DISNEY OWNS ALL OF OUR ANIMATED SERIES!"

[Matthew Williams]

I'm not 100% sure what the ownership terms with Disney are. I've always thought that Saban (then Disney) owned them outright and then simply paid a fee to Marvel whenever they wanted to air them. The article at Newsarama made it seem like Marvel just gave a LICENSE to Saban/Fox Family to distribute and market their shows worldwide, which makes sense given Marvel's financial situation at the time. (Doesn't explain how Saban was able to plaster its logo over Marvel's on the newer prints of Dungeons and Dragopns, tho.)

I'd like to see Marvel get them and get them out via Lions Gate, who they seem pretty tight with nowadays. Give their FHE unit a good shot in the arm - Lions Gate has seemed to push that pretty heavily since they got it.

FYI, I should have included "The Thing" in there - I totally forgot it. (which is probably a good thing) But I know it's that and the H-B FF that are owned outright by Time Warner. The newer series I'm not 100% sure - are they owned by the production companies or does Marvel have more say over what is done with them? I'd imagine the latter.

[Jon T]

Isn't EVERY Marvel series owned by Disney at the moment? I mean, except for-

-MTV's Spider-Man
-X-Men Evolution
-The HB Fantastic Four
-The Torchless FF series (With H.E.R.B.I.E. The mechanical Scrappy)Disney do actually own the Torchless New Fantastic Four show as well. Here's a list of the shows Disney have:

The Avengers
Captain America
The Fantastic Four (1967)
The Fantastic Four (1994)
The Incredible Hulk (1966)
The Incredible Hulk (1982)
The Incredible Hulk (1996)
Iron Man (1966)
Iron Man (1994)
The Mighty Thor
The New Fantastic Four
Spider-Man (1967)
Spider-Man (1981)
Spider-Man (1994)
Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man Unlimited
Spider-Woman
Silver Surfer
Sub-Mariner
X-Men

So as you can see, Disney have quite a considerable amount of Marvel episodes under their belt.

[Matthew Williams]

And breaking down why they're owned by Disney, in case anyone cared: (ph33r teh bor3d g33k)

The Avengers
--produced by Saban. Let us never speak of it again. (I'd like to burn the master copies.)
Captain America
--Part of the Marvel Super Heroes package done by Grantray Lawrence in the 60s. Rights reverted to Marvel, which went to Fox/Saban.
The Fantastic Four (1967)
--actually, you're wrong about this. This one's owned by Time Warner, as it was produced by H-B. I'm not sure if they have to pay a fee or not, but it was a different scenario than Superfriends(which was owned by WB before the Turner merger, right?)
The Fantastic Four (1994)
--produced by Marvel Films, rights went to Saban.
The Incredible Hulk (1966)
--Part of the Grantray Marvel Super Heroes series.
The Incredible Hulk (1982)
--Produced by Marvel Productions - all rights went to Saban.
The Incredible Hulk (1996)
--first season produced by Marvel Films, second season produced by Saban.
Iron Man (1966)
--Again, Grantray's MSH series.
Iron Man (1994)
--Produced by Marvel Films.
The Mighty Thor
--Another Grantray MSH.
The New Fantastic Four
--Produced by Depatie-Freleng. Marvel acquired Depatie-Freleng to create Marvel Productions, Ltd.
Spider-Man (1967)
--produced by Grantray originally, then Krantz Films. Rights went to Marvel.
Spider-Man (1981)
--First cartoon by Marvel Productions.
Spider-Man (1994)
--Marvel Films.
Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends
--Marvel Productions.
Spider-Man Unlimited
--Saban.
Spider-Woman
--Depatie-Freleng, became a Marvel property upon Marvel's acquisition of DEF.
Silver Surfer
--Saban.
Sub-Mariner
--Grantray's MSH.
X-Men
--Saban and Graz originally, then just Saban by the end.

[Donald Duck 12]

I personally like seeing all of these, I mean I was to young to be watching some of them in the ninties. Spider-Man and other Marvel cartoons have made ABC Family my #1 stop. I think Disney should keep the rights, just show them more. As in not just when a movie is going to be released!

[Jon T]

The Fantastic Four (1967)
--actually, you're wrong about this. This one's owned by Time Warner, as it was produced by H-B. I'm not sure if they have to pay a fee or not, but it was a different scenario than Superfriends(which was owned by WB before the Turner merger, right?)
Darn, I knew I shouldn't rely totally on copy and paste, as I've actually mentioned that Disney specifically don't own this show before! That also explains why this show is very hard to find on TV in the UK, as Cartoon Network would be the only outlet, and they don't like the show (over 10 years it was shown twice).

[Spider-Man]

So if Marvel wins does that mean their cartoons go back to Marvel? And does that mean they can choose a suitable distributor for their shows? I bet there are alot of companies who'd love to have Marvel's cartoon catalogue.

[krazymed]

From what little I know, what could happen if Marvel wins is that 1) the DVD art would be completely changed on the DVDs, since that would be one thing Marvel could claim as illegal use of its art, and 2) Disney would have to give up some amount of air time to promote Marvel stuff, even though Marvel toons have been getting good ratings without the airtime.

However, I won't be surprised to see Gargoyles back on the air four times per weekend this Saturday, and more importantly, X-Men and Spider-man out.

[Zero Signal]

I hope that either Marvel wins, or Disney just gives the shows back to Marvel. It's obvious Disney doesn't really care about the properties that much or else they'd have full season sets instead of the current "Here's 4 random episodes! Take it or do without!" DVDs we get now.

[Tommy Lawson]

Hmm, all this talk of "Disney's demise" and Marvel winning already, but personally, I think I can see why Marvel's doing this, and the likely outcome- like any company, Marvel is trying to maximize its profits, and one thing they see is that Disney's management is in turmoil, and they are trying to take advantage of that situation.

Disney's legal team is already fighting a major royalty fight that I believe has gone over a decade over Winnie the Pooh. Do you really think they want to be fighting another royalty case if they can avoid it? On the other side, a royalty lawsuit could take many, many, many years to resolve, and I wonder whether Marvel is willing to fight Disney in legal battles in 2007, 2010, or even beyond that. I get the feeling this is heading in the out-of-court settlement direction, with the terms between the two companies undisclosed, as they almost always are.

[Donald Duck 12]

Within a week all will be forgotten.

[shogunthethird]

I know this is the marvel board but would a tasteless Eisner joke be out of place here since this is tecnically a Disney matter as well? at any rate go here for that joke (I deeply apologize to any Green Goblin fans in advance)http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=112465&page=9

[Supernovametalstar]

Any relation to this suit and X-men suddenly showing up on ABC Family for no apparent reason? Is it just poor planning, Disney waving it in Marvel's face, or something else?

[Spider-Man]

Any relation to this suit and X-men suddenly showing up on ABC Family for no apparent reason? Is it just poor planning, Disney waving it in Marvel's face, or something else?
It could be either for all we know. It is odd that the network would just start airing the series. Especially when there is no live-action movie to tie into at the moment involving those heroes. I do hope that Marvel is able to reacquire these right back. And if they can't then somehoie get Disney to do reasonable releases of the newer animated shows and the classics.

[Hypestyle]

like the dvd release of the spidey 60's toons.. hopefully disney will not stop promoting the collection... dang.. this is frustrating to witness... I still want a spidey 90's series collection...

[Trevor]

I know this is the marvel board...

Well I've got ask, what was up with the yellow highlights on "Marvel" and "Disney". They're painful to read on a computer monitor.

[ThePRPD]

Well I've got ask, what was up with the yellow highlights on "Marvel" and "Disney". They're painful to read on a computer monitor.
You do realize you've just posted in a five year old thread and that poster is most likely not around anymore don't you?

[AlgeaX]

Sorry to contribute to the thread necromancy but looking at the title of this thread make me laugh! :D

[ryandcow]

I thought it was new, so I thought they were suing themselves. :)

[screw on head]

Given that Marvel is part of the wonderful world of Disney now this thread's very old news.

Thread Closed.