Gary Friedrich, who is the original Ghost Rider character creator, has taken Marvel Enterprises, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Take-Two Interactive, and many other companies to court. These firms had created and promoted the new Ghost Rider movie and video game adaptation.
Friedrich felt that Marvel has failed “to properly utilize and capitalize” on his creation, undervalued the property and gathered lower than acceptable royalties from licensees like Take-Two and Hasbro. He has alleged that Take-Two improperly created merchandise based on the characters from the Ghost Rider movie.
The 61-page lawsuit filed by Gary Friedrich and his company states:
- “Nonetheless, without any compensation to and without any agreement, consent or participation of plaintiff … in late 2006 or early 2007, the defendants herein wrongfully embarked upon a high-profile campaign, arrangement, joint venture and conspiracy to exploit, profit from and utilize plaintiff’s copyrights, the Johnny Blaze character and persona, the origin story and the related characters and personas created by plaintiff, in various endeavors, including, but not limited to, the use of the same in movie theater presentations and promotions, commercials, action-figure toys, video games, clothing and novels.”
The Ghost Rider film has done very well at the worldwide box office grossing an estimated $214.6 million. Gary Friedrich had recovered the copyrights to Ghost Rider in 2001 despite his original 1971 agreement with Marvel. Neither Take-Two nor Sony has commented on the lawsuit.