Chapter 800 Sudden Copyright Litigation
According to Duke's plan, The Avengers will start filming in September or October. The filming time is tentatively scheduled for two and a half months. After the advance payment of 60 million US dollars from Marvel Pictures arrives, the preparations for the entire crew have already begun. It unfolded in an orderly manner.
The layout of the film is very grand, but the shooting is not. Nearly 90% of the scenes in this film will be shot in the studio produced by Warner, which means that Duke will use a large area of green screen for shooting.
Except for very few scenes that require location shots, Duke will basically finish the filming in Los Angeles.
However, in the future, he will divide the crew into two parts. Anna Prinz will lead a team to shoot scenes in Germany, New York, Cleveland and other places, so as to shoot enough material for post-production composite shots.
Today, the Avengers has been established for half a century, and Marvel Comics, which has grown along with it, also has a history of more than 70 years.
This half century has given comic screenwriters enough time to repair and perfect the complex worldview of the Marvel universe, and it has also given generations of creators the opportunity to dig deeper into the characters. The independent background and story of each comic can no longer To meet the needs, in this era where everything needs to cross borders, the emergence of Avengers is inevitable.
Among them are the grassroots heroes who were born in the common people, the artificial intelligence crystallized by technology, the most threatening alien life, and the God Realm Monarch who is born with supernatural power.
Magic, technology, and superpowers achieve a perfect balance in friction and cooperation time after time; the harmonious coexistence of humans, gods, and aliens is becoming more and more reasonable. need.
After the preheating of the previous films, this series has formed a topic and gathered fans. The sensory stimulation brought by the assembly of superheroes will inevitably increase exponentially.
In fact, in Duke's eyes, this film can realize the dreams of many audiences of different ages - to see several of their beloved heroes huddled together in one shot to fight monsters.
But it is not an easy task for these superheroes to form a group to fight monsters smoothly. Not to mention the difficulties faced by Duke in its preparations, some external interference will always pop up.
In Hollywood, after any movie becomes popular, there will always be various people who want to get a share of it. For example, James Cameron's Avatar was accused of plagiarism as many times as the movie The number of times Box Office was mentioned.
Some people are motivated by profit. Some people are driven by competitors. This is a complex, chaotic and highly competitive circle. It is not surprising that there are any means used in the business circle.
Duke had some trouble preparing for The Avengers.
In mid-May, the descendants of the famous American cartoonist Jack Kirby and their lawyers held a press conference, announcing that they would file a lawsuit in the Los Angeles court, suing Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios, demanding the termination of their Jack Kirby creations. Copyright of comic characters. Suspend the preparation and filming of The Avengers and share the profits brought by the previous related movies.
This news was quickly reported by the media, and became the focus of public opinion for a while. Many media even published news that The Avengers would be postponed indefinitely.
Jack Kirby is one of the veterans of Marvel and an important assistant to Stan Lee. He has participated in the creation of superhero characters such as Fantastic Four, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and is one of the creators of the Avengers.
However, unlike Stan Lee, who is still alive, he passed away in 1994.
no doubt. Stan Lee is recognized as the father of Marvel's superheroes, according to his agreement with Marvel. It also enjoys a 5% share of all profits brought by all superheroes involved in the creation.
But in fact, Jack Kobe, who has long passed away, had a far greater influence on Marvel than Stan Lee.
Jack Kirby's descendants will sue Marvel Corporation to court, demanding to recover the copyright of a series of comic works created by Jack Kirby between 1958 and 1963, which will undoubtedly bring a lot of trouble to the entire Marvel plan .
certainly. Duke will not stop preparing and filming. After the other party called a press conference, he also called a meeting.
Regardless of whether Jack Kobe's descendants were provoked by some people, it is unlikely that he will win this lawsuit, because he is facing more than just a Marvel comic.
If a total of forty-five copyright termination lawsuits filed by Jack Kirby's descendants are finally realized, the copyrights and benefits of many characters including Fantastic Four, X-Men, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man, etc. will be released. redistribute.
This involves not only Marvel and Warner Bros., but also Sony Columbia, 20th Century Fox, Paramount and many other companies.
Without any surprise, these companies stood together and formed a huge team of lawyers, not only to respond to the lawsuit, but also filed a countersuit against Jack Kirby's descendants.
Marvel Corporation filed an accusation, claiming that these works of Jack Kirby were created for the company, so all copyrights belonged to Marvel Corporation.
According to the copyright law of the United States, if Marvel gives a screenwriter or artist the task of creating a comic story with a new character, or drawing a comic based on the description of its character, and the screenwriter or artist is paid for completing the task. remuneration, the publishing company owns the copyright, not the screenwriter or artist.
Marvel Studios vowed in the media release that Jack Kirby's contributions to Marvel's comics fall into this category.
This is bound to turn into an extremely lengthy lawsuit. In the face of such a powerful alliance of interests, everyone knows that the possibility of Jack Kobe's descendants winning is almost zero.
This is just to add trouble to us.
In the studio of Warner Studios, Tina Fey said to Scarlett Johansson who just walked in, Increase our pressure. After all, once the lawsuit is lost, the entire project must be stopped. This psychological suggestion will Affects the work of actors and others.
Scarlett turned to look at Duke, Honey, will you be affected?
Duke, who was temporarily resting, put down the coffee cup in his hand and shook his head, If I was affected by this kind of thing, I wouldn't be here.
How much fierce competition has he faced along the way, and how many overt or covert methods have those competitors used?
How can Hollywood easily watch one side's rise so unhindered.
Not only himself, but Duke is also confident enough for his entire team. Like him, they have experienced countless ups and downs, not the kind of idiots who came to Hollywood thinking that this is a holy land.
Scarlett, when you were rehearsing with other actors...
Compared with the members of his own team, Duke is still a little worried about the actors, You can also talk to them about this matter, the crew will not stop anyway.
Those actors are neither newcomers nor idiots. As long as they are reminded a little, they will naturally see that the descendants of Jack Kobe have no chance of winning at all.
Not to mention that it was indeed Marvel who authorized Jack Kobe to create, even if it wasn't, it would be impossible for the other party to win the lawsuit in the face of such a powerful alliance of interests.
The laws of this country are indeed sound, but only a fool would think that the laws of the United States are fair and just.
Well... Scarlett nodded, I know what to do.
Tina Fey had been flipping through the materials, and suddenly said, Duke, there is one thing you need to pay attention to. Fast and Furious 5 co-produced by David Ellison and Universal Pictures is scheduled for our next Release weekend.
What does he want to do? Scarlett stood up, walked over to Tina Fey, and looked at the document together, Does he really think that Fast and Furious 5 can win The Avengers ?”
Don't be careless. Duke has never been an arrogant person. The Fast and Furious series has already accumulated a large number of fans. As long as there are no problems with the film and publicity, it is definitely a formidable enemy.
Wow……
Seeing something very strange, Scarlett yelled, and then said, There is an acquaintance of yours in this crew.
Without waiting for Duke to say something, she continued, They invited Mel Gibson back from Australia to be the villain of this film.
He's actually back. Duke flicked his coffee cup lightly, Tina, let people keep an eye on Mel Gibson and this crew.
Tina Fey nodded.
Scarlett Johansson thought of something more, Is the lawsuit we are facing related to David Ellison and his crew?
Duke simply gave an ambiguous answer, It's possible.
As he said in the past, it doesn't really matter who does it, what matters is who is in the best interest of doing so? As long as you can see the beneficiaries, you can also see where your enemies are.
Seeing Tina Fey start making calls, Scarlett left and came to Duke, supported the back of his chair, and said, Should we do something? Can't we just be passively beaten?
Scarlett, you care about too many things. Duke tapped her hand and reminded, The most important thing you should do now is how to grasp your role well.
Okay, okay, I see. Scarlett walked towards the seat opposite Duke, muttering as she walked, The Black Widow always obeys orders and is in a gray area. Although she is fighting for justice, But she has a dark background. But she is still determined to fight for justice, because on the one hand she has to do so, on the other hand she also has a sense of responsibility in her heart, she always speaks with her fists, this is her judgment Wrong way. (To be continued^)
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