National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications | |
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Court | United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit |
Full case name | National Comics Publications, Inc. v. Fawcett Publications, Inc., et al. |
Argued | May 4 1951 |
Decided | August 30 1951 |
Citation | 191 F.2d 594 (2d Cir. 1951) |
Case history | |
Prior history | Complaint dismissed, 93 F. Supp. 349 (S.D.N.Y. 1950). |
Subsequent history | Clarified, 198 F.2d 927 (2d Cir. 1952). |
Holding | |
An author does not forfeit his original copyright to a piece of intellectual property if his work is contracted to another who fails to properly copyright works which incorporate the original property. Fawcett Publications' Captain Marvel comic strips were proven to have plagiarized those of National Comics' Superman character. | |
Court membership | |
Judges sitting | Circuit Judges Harrie B. Chase, Jerome Frank, Learned Hand |
Case opinions | |
Majority | Hand, joined by Chase, Frank |
Laws applied | |
Copyright Act of 1909 |
National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications, 191 F.2d 594 (2d Cir. 1951). was a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a twelve-year legal battle between National Comics (also known as Detective Comics and DC Comics) and the Fawcett Comics division of Fawcett Publications, concerning Fawcett's Captain Marvel character being an infringement on the copyright of National's Superman comic book character. The litigation is notable as one of the longest-running legal battles in comic book publication history.
The suit resulted in Fawcett Publications shuttering the Fawcett Comics division and cancelling all of its superhero-related publications, including those featuring Captain Marvel and related characters. In the 1970s, National, rebranded as DC Comics, licensed the rights to Captain Marvel and revived the character. DC Comics then purchased the rights completely by 1991.[1]
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