A recent decision granting summary judgment by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York illuminates an often misunderstood aspect of copyright law: similarity does not always equal copyright infringement.
The Hollywood Reporter provides a very succinct summary of the Court’s decision relating to a dispute involving Marvel Entertainment, LLC’s (“Marvel’s”) movie poster for Iron Man 3, and its striking similarity to a drawing made 12 years earlier by Horizon Comics Productions Inc. (“Horizon”) for its comic book series, Radix.
As you can see above, the two images are undoubtedly very similar; however, mere similarity doesn’t carry the day in a copyright infringement analysis.
Horizon’s biggest issue in this case was proving access to its drawing by the individuals within Marvel that created the Iron Man 3 poster, even given the fact that Marvel employed a handful of individuals who were aware of the Radix series. In his opinion, U.S. District Court Judge J. Paul Oetken states that “there is virtually no evidence in the record that shows any one of these individuals either would have seen the [Radix} Drawing or would have been involved in the Iron Man 3 Poster design, let alone both. Horizon’s arguments that these individuals could provide an access nexus is founded on nothing more than speculation.”
Moreover, the judge also noted “[i]n 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[,]” so Marvel also prevailed on the second key issue of independent creation.
I do concede that disproportionate levels of legal firepower were probably at play here, especially given that Marvel has been nestled within the Walt Disney Company’s vast portfolio of franchises since late 2009. Nonetheless, the Court would not have entered summary judgment in favor of Marvel had Horizon created a genuine issue as to any material fact, especially facts surrounding the access issue.
If you or your business require assistance navigating complex copyright or trademark issues, let’s schedule some time to chat.