Opinion ID: 899620
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Public Repudiation

Text: First, there is a genuine dispute whether Marvel publicly repudiated Friedrich's claim. There is evidence that, over the years, Marvel repeatedly and publicly recognized that Friedrich created the work. Marvel publicly credited Friedrich with conceiv[ing] Spotlight 5 each time it reprinted the original comic -- including as late as 2005. When the comic was originally published in 1972, Marvel explained in a contemporaneous publication that Friedrich had dreamed the whole thing up. Moreover, Marvel did not register a copyright in Spotlight 5 or Ghost Rider before Friedrich filed this action, even though it had registered nearly all of its other characters and several later Ghost Rider stories. Marvel argues that the copyright notice on Spotlight 5 declared that Marvel was the owner and publicly repudiated Friedrich's claim. But in 1972, the notice would have only indicated that Marvel held the rights to the initial term of copyright. It would not have - 36 - conclusively demonstrated that Marvel was the author or otherwise had the right to register the renewal term. 14 See, e.g., P.C. Films Corp., 138 F.3d at 456 (explaining that agreement permitted alleged assignees to register[] the renewal copyright in the[ir] names . . . as co - claimants [just] as [their predecessors] had done for the original copyright registration). At a minimum, there is a genuine dispute regarding whether this notice publicly repudiated Friedrich's claim of authorship, and thus his claim to ownership of the renewal rights.