And therein lies the danger: the Copyright Act tends to favor (in terms of ownership) the one who actually created the work rather than the one who may have commissioned the work.

An article published in today’s New York Times, which notes the legal difficulties faced by Disney in its intended acquisition of Marvel Superheroes highlights these problems. In that case, Marvel’s ownership of the intellectual property rights to some of their superheroes has been challenged by the creators’ heirs, who claim that they are entitled to at least partial rights to selected characters. On the other hand, Sony apparently has undisputed movie rights to X-Men – forever.

Here’s the bottom line: if the creative business is worth anything significant (and if it isn’t, you’d better find one that is worth something),  it should be worth the modest investment necessary to prepare a written agreement that protects it.

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