History ScrewedByTheLawyers / ComicBooks

** In 2010, Ken Penders, former head writer for the series, filed copyright claims for all of his characters and creations in an attempt to [[MoneyDearBoy gain royalties for their use]], prompting Archie Comics to file a lawsuit against him and take him to court to disprove his claims. While things didn't seem all that bad at first, the case began to swing in Penders' favor when it became clear that Archie could not prove their ownership of the properties in question, mostly due to having somehow misplaced a lot of paperwork including Penders' original contract, and caused so many delays in court that the judge threatened to throw the case out, which would give Penders the victory by default.[[note]]The exact details are unknown, but Penders proclaims that the original contracts were destroyed -- how they were is disputed; one account suggests fire, another a careless intern destroyed them.[[/note]] In a panic, Archie decided to remove all of Penders' creations from the comic while it was in the middle of a story arc that centered around them, throwing the plot completely out of whack and making fans (and the creative staff) livid. In the end, the two sides settled, and though Penders stated that Archie could be allowed to use his creations anyway, the conditions he put up for that didn't sit well with Archie and they instead decided to perform a soft reboot for the series via a CosmicRetcon at the end of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide''. The character removals also extended to all creators whose names were not Sega, [=DiC=] or Ian Flynn. Conversely, when it comes to Penders himself, the whole affair can best be described as bit of a PyrrhicVictory for him. While he might have the rights to the names of and some concepts related to the characters he created, he can in most cases not really put them to any use without making heavy alterations to their design as they in their original form would be highly derivative of Sega's property and could therefore easily place him on the receiving end of this trope. Not to mention that, regardless of his motivations, Penders' actions and their consequences made him a pariah in the fandom.

** In 2010, Ken Penders, former head writer for the series, filed copyright claims for all of his characters and creations in an attempt to [[MoneyDearBoy gain royalties for their use]], promoting Archie Comics to file a lawsuit against him and take him to court to disprove his claims. While things didn't seem all that bad at first, the case began to swing in Penders' favor when it became clear that Archie could not prove their ownership of the properties in question, mostly due to having somehow misplaced a lot of paperwork including Penders' original contract, and caused so many delays in court that the judge threatened to throw the case out, which would give Penders the victory by default.[[note]]The exact details are unknown, but Penders proclaims that the original contracts were destroyed -- how they were is disputed; one account suggests fire, another a careless intern destroyed them.[[/note]] In a panic, Archie decided to remove all of Penders' creations from the comic while it was in the middle of a story arc that centered around them, throwing the plot completely out of whack and making fans (and the creative staff) livid. In the end, the two sides settled, and though Penders stated that Archie could be allowed to use his creations anyway, the conditions he put up for that didn't sit well with Archie and they instead decided to perform a soft reboot for the series via a CosmicRetcon at the end of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide''. The character removals also extended to all creators whose names were not Sega, [=DiC=] or Ian Flynn. Conversely, when it comes to Penders himself, the whole affair can best be described as bit of a PyrrhicVictory for him. While he might have the rights to the names of and some concepts related to the characters he created, he can in most cases not really put them to any use without making heavy alterations to their design as they in their original form would be highly derivative of Sega's property and could therefore easily place him on the receiving end of this trope. Not to mention that, regardless of his motivations, Penders' actions and their consequences made him a pariah in the fandom.

* Whoo, boy. ComicBook/XMen and ComicBook/FantasticFour was screwed by this trope between 2015 and 2019. Around 2015, Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/MarvelComics was angry at Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox for its iron grip on the Fantastic Four movie rights and the mess that was ''Film/FantasticFour2015''. To absolutely deny Fox any sort of promotion (and to spite themselves in the process), Marvel went full denial towards the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, removing them from cartoons and games, cancelling the Fantastic Four's comic and trying to raise the popularity of the similar-looking group ComicBook/TheInhumans in favor of the X-Men. Tensions would cool when Fox had a changing of the guard and ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'' ended up becoming the biggest R-Rated movie in history with Disney's acquisition of Fox allowing both teams to return to media in full force. Despite Marvel owning rights to just about every other media type to the character, fans are fearful that this will be repeated concerning ComicBook/SpiderMan after talks broke down between Disney and Sony, leading Spidey to be nearly jettisoned out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe until finally deciding to give him another film (what happens afterwards is currently unknown).

** This also happened to the ''ComicBook/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1977'' series, in which he rampaged through Earth-616, chased by ComicBook/{{Shield}} Once Marvel lost the rights, one of the villains initially mutated Godzilla into something different, so that he could still appear as a nameless {{Kaiju}} (though that was retconned). He reappeared years later with a different, yet still Godzilla-like look, appearing just long enough so that his storyline with another character could be completed [[BackForTheDead with his death]]. It wouldn't be the last time Godzilla would appear in a prominent comic book featuring superheroes, as the Franchise/MonsterVerse incarnation (and that franchise's versions of other kaiju) would crossover with DC Comics for '''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueVsGodzillaVsKong''.

** This also happened to the ''ComicBook/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1977'' series, in which he rampaged through Earth-616, chased by ComicBook/{{Shield}} Once Marvel lost the rights, one of the villains initially mutated Godzilla into something different, so that he could still appear as a nameless {{Kaiju}} (though that was retconned). He reappeared years later with a different, yet still Godzilla-like look, appearing just long enough so that his storyline with another character could be completed [[BackForTheDead with his death]].

* In the late 1990s, Black Mermaid Productions of Australia were responsible for ''Comicbook/ElfQuest: Wavedancers'', which featured a group of aquatic elves. "Creative differences" between Black Mermaid and EQ publisher Warp Graphics led to the cancellation of the series, and an agreement that neither company would reprint it. Warp came out with its own ''Wavedancers'' series featuring new characters, while Black Mermaid is reportedly working on something called ''Elf Fin''.

** Another well-known 80's superhero comic that was caught in a rights-ownership dispute for decades is the Creator/AlanMoore[=/=]Creator/NeilGaiman ''Marvelman'' (''Comicbook/MiracleMan'' [[MarketBasedTitle in America]]) - Rebellion, IPC, Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore and [=Todd McFarlane=] ''all'' had a claim on the series. Marvel apparently cleared the rights for the earliest stories featuring the character, but not for its run in Warrior magazine or Eclipse Comics. Said run, featuring the work of Moore and Gaiman, is naturally of the most interest to comic readers and was left as a particularly sad example of KeepCirculatingTheTapes. [=McFarlane=] claimed he had gotten the rights to Miracleman when he purchased ''Eclipse'''s creative assets in 1996, and introduced the character into ''Spawn'' as a cosmic entity called the "Man Of Miracles[=/=]Mother of Creation". In 2001, Gaiman launched a second lawsuit against [=McFarlane=] to get ownership of the character back, and in 2009 Marvel purchased the character from his original creator, Mick Anglo. In 2014, Marvel finally began reprinting the Moore issues from the start in serial form, and has promised that once the Gaiman issues run out they will publish new issues that continue the arcs as originally planned, while ''Spawn'' underwent a ContinuityReboot that retconned Miracleman out of the comic.
* The 1978 one-shot comic ''Franchise/{{Superman}} vs. UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli'' was not reprinted until 2010, as the cover included the likenesses of over a hundred 1970s celebrities in the background. The lawyers had to be convinced no one would sue.

* The ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' storyline ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'' had virtually ''every'' Spider-Man in existence show up in some form. However, there are eight that were not allowed to appear. Seven were confirmed, though: the [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy Spider-Man]] portrayed by Creator/TobeyMaguire, the [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries Spider-Man]] portrayed by Creator/AndrewGarfield, the Spider-Man of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', the Spider-Man of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheNewAnimatedSeries'' and the three Spider-Boys from the ComicBook/AmalgamUniverse. The first four Spideys are owned by Creator/SonyPictures, the latter three are (both legally and [[FusionDance in-universe]]) half-Marvel, half-Creator/DCComics (and it goes the other way too: DC stated they couldn't use any Amalgam character in ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'' either for the same reason). There was a workaround. One of the issues featured a conversation between two of the Spider-Men, who mentioned having seen (respectively) a Spider-Man who looked exactly like Creator/TobeyMaguire (referred to as "the guy from ''Film/{{Seabiscuit}}''") and a Spider-Man who looked exactly like Creator/AndrewGarfield (referred to as "the guy from ''Film/TheSocialNetwork''"). Additionally, they mentioned having seen a [[Series/TheElectricCompany1971 Spider-Man who kept teaching grammar]] and a [[Theatre/SpiderManTurnOffTheDark Spider-Man who wouldn't stop singing show tunes]].

* It's not just Disney's ownership of Marvel Comics that's preventing the comic book line of Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}'s ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' from being reprinted. Issue #6, dated May 1993, features Franchise/SpiderMan as a main character, making his removal in a reprinting impossible.
* Whoo, boy. Franchise/XMen and ComicBook/FantasticFour was screwed by this trope between 2015 and 2019. Around 2015, Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/MarvelComics was angry at Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox for its iron grip on the Fantastic Four movie rights and the mess that was ''Film/FantasticFour2015''. To absolutely deny Fox any sort of promotion (and to spite themselves in the process), Marvel went full denial towards the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, removing them from cartoons and games, cancelling the Fantastic Four's comic and trying to raise the popularity of the similar-looking group ComicBook/TheInhumans in favor of the X-Men. Tensions would cool when Fox had a changing of the guard and ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'' ended up becoming the biggest R-Rated movie in history with Disney's acquisition of Fox allowing both teams to return to media in full force. Despite Marvel owning rights to just about every other media type to the character, fans are fearful that this will be repeated concerning Franchise/SpiderMan after talks broke down between Disney and Sony, leading Spidey to be nearly jettisoned out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe until finally deciding to give him another film (what happens afterwards is currently unknown).

* Creator/JimShooter's Defiant Comics was going to publish the comic ''Plasm''. The title was changed to ''Warriors of Plasm'' when Marvel claimed the title was too similar to the Marvel UK comic ''ComicBook/{{Plasmer}}''. The legal costs contributed to Defiant Comics going bankrupt.

* ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'':
* In 2010, Ken Penders, former head writer for the series, filed copyright claims for all of his characters and creations in an attempt to [[MoneyDearBoy gain royalties for their use]], promoting Archie Comics to file a lawsuit against him and take him to court to disprove his claims. While things didn't seem all that bad at first, the case began to swing in Penders' favor when it became clear that Archie could not prove their ownership of the properties in question, mostly due to having somehow misplaced a lot of paperwork including Penders' original contract, and caused so many delays in court that the judge threatened to throw the case out, which would give Penders the victory by default.[[note]]The exact details are unknown, but Penders proclaims that the original contracts were destroyed -- how they were is disputed; one account suggests fire, another a careless intern destroyed them.[[/note]] In a panic, Archie decided to remove all of Penders' creations from the comic while it was in the middle of a story arc that centered around them, throwing the plot completely out of whack and making fans (and the creative staff) livid. In the end, the two sides settled, and though Penders stated that Archie could be allowed to use his creations anyway, the conditions he put up for that didn't sit well with Archie and they instead decided to perform a soft reboot for the series via a CosmicRetcon at the end of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide''. The character removals also extended to all creators whose names were not Sega, [=DiC=] or Ian Flynn. Conversely, when it comes to Penders himself, the whole affair can best be described as bit of a PyrrhicVictory for him. While he might have the rights to the names of and some concepts related to the characters he created, he can in most cases not really put them to any use without making heavy alterations to their design as they in their original form would be highly derivative of Sega's property and could therefore easily place him on the receiving end of this trope. Not to mention that, regardless of his motivations, Penders' actions and their consequences made him a pariah in the fandom.

* In 2010, Ken Penders, former head writer of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', filed copyright claims for all of his characters and creations in an attempt to [[MoneyDearBoy gain royalties for their use]], promoting Archie Comics to file a lawsuit against him and take him to court to disprove his claims. While things didn't seem all that bad at first, the case began to swing in Penders' favor when it became clear that Archie could not prove their ownership of the properties in question, mostly due to having somehow misplaced a lot of paperwork including Penders' original contract, and caused so many delays in court that the judge threatened to throw the case out, which would give Penders the victory by default.[[note]]The exact details are unknown, but Penders proclaims that the original contracts were destroyed -- how they were is disputed; one account suggests fire, another a careless intern destroyed them.[[/note]] In a panic, Archie decided to remove all of Penders' creations from the comic while it was in the middle of a story arc that centered around them, throwing the plot completely out of whack and making fans (and the creative staff) livid. In the end, the two sides settled, and though Penders stated that Archie could be allowed to use his creations anyway, the conditions he put up for that didn't sit well with Archie and they instead decided to perform a soft reboot for the series via a CosmicRetcon at the end of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide''. The character removals also extended to all creators whose names were not Sega, [=DiC=] or Ian Flynn.
** Conversely, when it comes to Penders himself, the whole affair can best be described as bit of a PyrrhicVictory for him. While he might have the rights to the names of and some concepts related to the characters he created, he can in most cases not really put them to any use without making heavy alterations to their design as they in their original form would be highly derivative of Sega's property and could therefore easily place him on the receiving end of this trope. Not to mention that, regardless of his motivations, Penders' actions and their consequences made him a pariah in the fandom.

* Creator/MarvelComics' ''ComicBook/RomSpaceKnight'' probably won't be collected in a trade. Rom was a space based hero who fought gigantic EldritchAbomination creatures called the Dire Wraiths in the Marvel Universe. However, Marvel only licensed the character of Rom from Parker Brothers; he is now owned by Creator/{{Hasbro}} through a series of acquisitions. Conversely, when Hasbro's comic partner Creator/IDWPublishing rebooted Rom for the [[ComicBook/HasbroComicUniverse shared universe]] of their ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' and ''Franchise/GIJoe'' comics, they had to completely strip him and the Wraiths of their Marvel-created elements as they still belong to Marvel, including things such as Rom's human form, his supporting cast and the character designs of the Wraiths. The best we've seen in Marvel these days is a SerialNumbersFiledOff offspring who talks about a [[YouKnowTheOne great hero]].
** Something of the sort also happened to ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' as the beast once rampaged through Earth-616, chased by S.H.I.E.L.D. Once Marvel lost the rights to the beast, they used one story where one of the villains created during this time mutated him into something different, though that was retconned. He reappeared years later with a different, yet still Godzilla-like look, appearing just long enough so that his storyline with another character could be completed with him being killed.

** Conversely, when it comes to Penders himself, the whole affair can best be described as bit of a PyrrhicVictory for him. While he might have the rights to the names of and some concepts related to the characters he created, he can in most cases not really put them to any use without making heavy alterations to their design as they in their original form would be highly derivative of Sega's property and could therefore easily place him on the receiving end of this trope.

** Failed negotiations between Sega and Archie in 2017 [[FranchiseKiller directly resulted in the termination of the comic book series]].

** On a similar note, his ''Gideon Stargrave'' mini-series, a spin-off of ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'', is unlikely to ever get republished, as Morrison admitted that Stargrave is basically an expy of [[Literature/TheCorneliusChronicles Jerry Cornelius]], and Cornelius creator Creator/MichaelMoorcock bears a grudge against Morrison for blatantly plagiarizing one of his stories.

* Creator/JimShooter's Defiant Comics was going to publish the comic ''Plasm''. The title was changed to ''Warriors of Plasm'' when Marvel claimed the title was too similar to the Marvel UK comic ''Plasmer''. The legal costs contributed to Defiant Comics going bankrupt.

* ''ComicBook/OnceUponACaper'' was originally released as ''Once Upon a Super Hero'', but had to change its name due to DC and Marvel holding a joint trademark over the term "super hero". And it's likely we'll never get more than the first issue due to a rights dispute.

* In 2010, Ken Penders, former head writer of ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', filed copyright claims for all of his characters and creations in an attempt to [[MoneyDearBoy gain royalties for their use]], promoting Archie Comics to file a lawsuit against him and take him to court to disprove his claims. While things didn't seem all that bad at first, the case began to swing in Penders' favor when it became clear that Archie could not prove their ownership of the properties in question, mostly due to having somehow misplaced a lot of paperwork including Penders' original contract, and caused so many delays in court that the judge threatened to throw the case out, which would give Penders the victory by default.[[note]]The exact details are unknown, but Penders proclaims that the original contracts were destroyed -- how they were is disputed; one account suggests fire, another a careless intern destroyed them.[[/note]] In a panic, Archie decided to remove all of Penders' creations from the comic while it was in the middle of a story arc that centered around them, throwing the plot completely out of whack and making fans (and the creative staff) livid. In the end, the two sides settled, and though Penders stated that Archie could be allowed to use his creations anyway, the conditions he put up for that didn't sit well with Archie and they instead decided to perform a soft reboot for the series via a CosmicRetcon at the end of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide''. The character removals also extended to all creators whose names were not Sega, [=DiC=] or Ian Flynn.

* ''ComicBook/OnceUponACaper'' was originally released as ''Once Upon a Super Hero'', but had to change its name due to DC and Marvel holding a joint trademark over the term "super hero". And it's likely we'll never get more than the first issue due to a rights dispute.
* In 1975, both Marvel and DC were planning adaptations of the Wizard of Oz. While Marvel had obtained rights from the Baum estate, DC had obtained rights from MGM based on the movie. Without the rights from MGM, Dorothy's shoes would have had to be silver instead of ruby and they wouldn't be able to use the look of the characters from the movie. I also heard that there were some legal questions about basing the comic book on the movie without the rights from the Baum estate. When the editors from the two companies (Stan Lee and Carmine Infantino) learned about each other plans, they decided to make the project a collaborative effort between the two companies, making it into a special event and resolving the legal issues.

* For a couple of years, Creator/{{Viz}} featured a strip called ''Captain Morgan and his Hammond Organ'', about a pirate captain who was more interested in playing 70s pop and disco hits on his Wurlitzer than in raiding other ships ([[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext it makes no more sense in context]]). Unfortunately, the copyright holders of the songs complained. Viz didn't have a leg to stand on legally, and the only way out was to have used songs that were out of copyright, like hymns and spirituals. Given that this would have killed the joke, Viz had no choice but to drop the strip.

* In 1975, both Marvel and DC were planning adaptations of the Wizard of Oz. While Marvel had obtained rights from the Baum estate, DC had obtained rights from MGM based on the movie. Without the rights from MGM, Dorothy's shoes would have had to be silver instead of ruby and they wouldn't be able to use the look of the characters from the movie. I also heard that there were some legal questions about basing the comic book on the movie without the rights from the Baum estate. When the editors from the two companies (Stan Lee and Carmine Infantino) learned about each other plans, they decided to make the project a collaborative effort between the two companies, making it into a special event and resolving the legal issues.

* ''ComicBook/OnceUponACaper'' was originally released as ''Once Upon a Super Hero'', but had to change its name due to DC and Marvel holding a joint trademark over the term "super hero". And it's likely we'll never get more than the first issue due to a rights dispute.

* Whoo, boy. Franchise/XMen and ComicBook/FantasticFour was screwed by this trope between 2015 and 2019. Around 2015, Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/MarvelComics was angry at Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox for its iron grip on the Fantastic Four movie rights and the mess that was ''Film/FantasticFour2015''. To absolutely deny Fox any sort of promotion (and to spite themselves in the process), Marvel went full denial towards the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, removing them from cartoons and games, cancelling the Fantastic Four's comic and trying to raise the popularity of the similar-looking group ComicBook/TheInhumans in favor of the X-Men. Tensions would cool when Fox had a changing of the guard and ''Film/{{Deadpool}}'' ended up becoming the biggest R-Rated movie in history with Disney's acquisition of Fox allowing both teams to return to media in full force. Despite Marvel owning rights to just about every other media type to the character, fans are fearful that this will be repeated concerning Franchise/SpiderMan after talks broke down between Disney and Sony, leading Spidey to be nearly jettisoned out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe until finally deciding to give him another film (what happens afterwards is currently unknown).

* Whoo, boy. Franchise/XMen and ComicBook/FantasticFour was screwed by this trope between 2015 and 2019. Around 2015, Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/MarvelComics was angry at Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox for its iron grip on the Fantastic Four movie rights and the mess that was ''Film/FantasticFour2015''. To absolutely deny Fox any sort of promotion (and to spite themselves in the process), Marvel went full denial towards the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, removing them from cartoons and games, cancelling the Fantastic Four's comic and trying to raise the popularity of the similar-looking group ComicBook/TheInhumans in favor of the X-Men. Tensions would cool when Fox had a changing of the guard and ''Film/{{Deadpool}}'' ended up becoming the biggest R-Rated movie in history with Disney's acquisition of Fox allowing both teams to return to media in full force. Despite Marvel owning rights to just about every other media type to the character, fans are fearful that this will be repeated concerning Franchise/SpiderMan after talks broke down between Disney and Sony, leading Spidey to be jettisoned out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

* Whoo, boy. Franchise/XMen and ComicBook/FantasticFour was screwed by this trope between 2015 and 2019. Around 2015, Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/MarvelComics was angry at Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox for its iron grip on the Fantastic Four movie rights and the mess that was ''Film/FantasticFour2015''. To absolutely deny Fox any sort of promotion (and to spite themselves in the process), Marvel went full denial towards the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, removing them from cartoons and games, cancelling the Fantastic Four's comic and trying to raise the popularity of the similar-looking group ComicBook/TheInhumans in favor of the X-Men. Tensions would cool when Fox had a changing of the guard and ''Film/{{Deadpool}}'' ended up becoming the biggest R-Rated movie in history with Disney's acquisition of Fox allowing both teams to return to media in full force.

* There was a Creator/MilestoneComics revival announced in 2015 to debut in 2018 that was cancelled due to an ongoing legal dispute between Creator/DwayneMcduffie’s wife on behalf of his estate and the other two creators of the company. She has claimed in court that they went so far as to make a new company behind her back to cut her out of the half she owns to make the deal with Creator/DCComics for the revival.

* Whoo, boy. Franchise/XMen and ComicBook/FantasticFour was screwed by this trope between 2015 and 2019. Around 2015, Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/MarvelComics was angry at Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox for its iron grip on the Fantastic Four movie rights and the mess that was ''Film/FantasticFour2015''. To absolutely deny Fox any sort of promotion (and to spite themselves in the process), Marvel went full denial towards the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, removing them from cartoons and games, cancelling the Fantastic Four's comic and trying to raise the popularity of the similar-looking group ComicBook/TheInhumans in favor of the X-Men. Tensions would cool when Fox had a changing of the guard and ''Film/{{Deadpool}}'' ended up becoming the biggest R-Rated movie in history with Disney's acquisition of Fox allowing both teams to return to media in full force.

* It's not just Disney's ownership of Marvel Comics that's preventing the comic book line of Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}'s ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' from being reprinted. Issue #6, dated May 1993, features Franchise/SpiderMan as a main character, making his removal in a reprinting impossible.