After a two-year legal struggle, Marv Wolfman has lost his bid to claim ownership of Blade and Deacon Frost, characters which were created by Wolfman and featured in Marvel's Tomb of Dracula comic in the 1970s. Wolfman registered a formal copyright for the characters and filed suit against Marvel in a US district court in California in August of 1998 as a successful Blade motion picture starring Wesley Snipes was reaching the screen, but due to Marvel's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, the issue finally came to trial in November of 1999 in a Delaware bankruptcy court. New Line Cinema, Time Warner and other entertainment companies that had licensed Blade from Marvel were also named in the suit, which asked for an injunction against uses of the characters not authorized by Wolfman and compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $35 million. A three-day nonjury trial was held, but because of the complexities of the case and Marvel's shifting financial status, the ruling favoring Marvel was not issued until Nov. 6, 2000. "It had a long pregnancy," Marvel attorney Carole Handler told the Journal.

Wolfman had argued that he had not been bound by any work-for-hire contract at the time he had created the characters in 1972 and that Marvel's subsequent use of the characters had been contingent on his approval. The court ruled, however, that Marvel's later use of the characters was sufficiently different from Wolfman’s initial creations to protect it from Wolfman’s claim of copyright ownership. Wolfman’s attorney Michael Diliberto told the Journal, "We don’t think the judge understood the nuances of character development in comics, the way characters change their powers and relationships over time."

The ruling may set a precedent that will affect other pending character ownership conflicts between creators and corporate license-holders. It is also expected to clear the way for a Blade sequel, which has been pending since 1999.

Diliberto said Wolfman has an option of appealing the ruling, but no decision has yet been made.

The full story appeared in TCJ #229.

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