SDNY Rules in Favor of Chaffetz Lindsey Client Marvel Entertainment

August 2019 – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of Chaffetz Lindsey client Marvel Entertainment LLC to dismiss a copyright lawsuit from Ben and Ray Lai, artists and owners of Horizon Comics Productions, Inc.

In 2016, Horizon filed a lawsuit claiming the mechanized suit from the “Iron Man” franchise was appropriated by Marvel designers from a character in an earlier comic book series, “Radix.” In 2017, the judge dismissed all accusations related to the way the suit appeared in the movie, but allowed Horizon to continue the lawsuit over claims the design of an “Iron Man 3” movie poster was ripped off from the series.

The judge ultimately ruled that “there is virtually no evidence in the record that shows any one of these individuals either would have seen the [earlier work] or would have been involved in the Iron Man 3 poster design, let alone both.” Additionally, the judge wrote that “in contrast to Horizon’s virtually non-existent evidence of copying, Marvel has introduced unrebutted evidence showing its independent creation of the Iron Man 3 poster.”

Marvel was represented by Sandy Litvack, as well as Theresa House of Arnold & Porter and Benjamin Fleming of Hogan Lovells. The full summary and judgment order can be found here.

Click here to read Law360’s coverage of the case