Marvel wins copyright battle with co-creator's heirs over Spider-Man, Avengers, X-Men

Legendary comic artist Jack Kirby clan's bid to claim the rights to iconic super heroes, like Spider-Man, Avengers, and X-Men, has been denied by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals saying that his creations were 'works to be hired' by Marvel.

The New York Daily News reports that the artist's estate has lost the lawsuit for the character's rights, including the Fantastic Four, Iron Man and the Hulk.

Kirby's heirs had claimed that they should receive an ownership share from Marvel's profit because of their dad's immense contributions to the iconic characters from 1958 to 1963.

The court ruling clarified that Kirby was paid a flat rate per page by Marvel, for those pages that the company accepted but no royalties were paid.

The company was free to reject Kirby's pages and pay him nothing for them, the report added.

Kirby had also claimed that he had designed the company's signature hero Spider-Man, who has now become a billion dollar movie and licensing property.

The judges also said that Kirby was hired to build creative works on pre-existing titles and themes of Marvel for which the company held ownership rights.