Ghost Rider taken to court, Illinois-style

Known only as lc05355, the IPKat's new informant - a student at Queen Mary, University of London - has just sent him this link to an exciting bit of litigation concerning copyright and character rights in Johnny Blaze. The trigger for the litigation is the February launch of the Ghost Rider movie in the lucrative and all-important North American market, since which time it has grossed an estimated $214.6 million (£109 million) in worldwide box-office revenue, according to boxofficemojo.com. Damages are sought for claims of

"copyright infringement, violations of federal and Illinois state unfair competition laws, negligence, waste, tortuous interference with prospective business expectancy, misappropriation of characters, unauthorized use of the characters and false advertising and endorsement".

The IPKat marvels at all these causes of action: it must be such fun litigating in the US. Merpel adds that a "spooksman" for defendants Sony said the studio had no comment on the suit and had not been served with the complaint.

Three Johnny Blazes here
Ghost Riders in the Sky here
Ghostbusters here