Marvel Gets ‘Iron Man 3’ Poster Copyright Claims Dismissed
Written August 2, 2019
The SDNY on July 15, 2019, granted Marvel’s motion for summary judgment in a copyright infringement suit regarding an “Iron Man 3” movie poster. Horizon Comics Prods. Inc. v. Marvel Entm’t, LLC, S.D.N.Y., No. 16-CV-2499, 7/15/19.
Upon the debut of “Iron Man 3,” Marvel released a poster of actor Robert Downey Jr. kneeling and crouching in his red and gold armor. Twelve years prior, comic book artists Ben and Ray Lai, the brothers who own Horizon, created a character for their comic book series called Radix, and drew a picture depicting him in a “mechanized suit of armor in a kneeling pose.”
Horizon alleged that Marvel infringed its copyright in the Drawing. The Court dismissed their claims because though Marvel employee Chester Bror Cebulski met the Lai brothers at a 2001 comic book convention where a copy of the drawing was displayed at their booth, the brothers couldn’t prove the makers of the poster had access to the drawing.