Stanley Weston, an 82-year-old man credited with coming up with the idea behind the original G.I. Joe toy line, is suing to regain control of the franchise rights, currently valued at around $100 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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It’s a premise not unfamiliar to comic book fans, who have seen it play out a number of times, most famously with the creators of Superman. Weston has served a notice of termination to Hasbro, which acquired rights to G.I. Joe through a predecessor company. Weston hopes to take advantage to changes made to copyright law in the ’70s, allowing authors or their heirs to terminate rights transfers after 35 years from assignees.
The changes were made when copyright law was changed to expand the term before intellectual property would enter the public domain. Termination rights were included as a gesture of fairness to original authors, who could claim they sold well below a property’s new value as they had no way of knowing that copyright law would be radically altered.
When creators have attempted to take advantage of the termination rights in the comics industry, courts have often found that the creations were generated as work-for-hire, and therefore that the employer was the statutory creator of the intellectual property. Such was the case when the creator of Masters of the Universe attempted to reclaim the rights from Mattel a few years ago.
The massive, sustained popularity of G.I. Joe will likely provide the court with ample evidence in the form of documentary and research materials amassed over the years. THR suggests, though, that Hasbro could stand to lose a significant sum if the case isn’t decided quickly, as the lawsuit could be a barrier to continuing the popular film franchise.
Donald Levine, the toy company executive who bought the idea from Weston, recently passed away.
