A federal judge has dismissed a copyright lawsuit involving the “Iron Man” body armor, declaring the dispute didn’t belong in the Massachusetts court.
U.S. District Judge Denise Casper ruled the copyright claim filed by brothers Ben and Ray Lai over Disney and Marvel Entertainment’s appropriation of the suit failed to comply with the jurisdictional requirements related to the state of Massachusetts.
The Lai brothers earlier sued Disney and Marvel in April 2015, alleging the “Iron Man” armor worn by Robert Downey, Jr.’s character, Tony Stark in the “Iron Man” movies was significantly similar to the “highly detailed mechanized suits” of their own comic book series, “Radix,” Yahoo reported.
The Lais, who currently run their own company, Horizon, used to work at Marvel where they were employed as artists.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs allege copyright infringement as well as unfair business practices. The Lai brothers further said their 2001 “Radix” comic books featured characters wearing highly similar body armor which they claim Disney and Marvel plagiarized for the “Iron Man” films.
“Iron Man” is a superhero character and alter ego of playboy billionaire, Tony Stark, and is based on a 1963 series created by comic book creator, and former Marvel Comics president, Stan Lee, the Hollywood Reporter wrote.
Judge Casper penned the decision stating the Lai brothers’ claims were directly unrelated to Massachusetts, citing the lack of creations, transactions and marketing of the suit in question within the state, Comic Book Resources said.
The Judge further wrote, based on the facts presented to her, the most the plaintiffs’ claim of copyright infringement could allege is of the defendants’ films and books ending up in Massachusetts.
Judge Casper’s dismissal of the copyright violation lawsuit does not prevent the plaintiffs from pursuing further legal action against the defendants, Disney and Marvel, albeit in another state other than Massachusetts.
