Marvel Boycott Diary: Please Sign the Jack Kirby Petition

Hey,

I just signed the petition "Marvel Entertainment: Give credit and royalties to Jack Kirby and his family" and wanted to see if you could help by adding your name.

Our goal is to reach 100 signatures and we need more support. You can read more and sign the petition here:

http://www.change.org/petitions/marvel-entertainment-give-credit-and-royalties-to-jack-kirby-and-his-familhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gify


Thanks!

Bryan

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here's the petition:

Give credit and royalties to Jack Kirby and his family.

Jack Kirby is one of the most important and influential artists in the history of U.S. comic books and popular culture. Along with writers Joe Simon, Stan Lee, and Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby created the characters and stories on which Marvel Comics has built a very successful business over the past 60 years. Kirby created or co-created Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, The X-Men, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four, The Avengers, and many more. For his efforts, Kirby was paid a few dollars a page and never shared in the billions of dollars in profits his characters have made in various media, including print, film, and video games.

We strongly urge Marvel Entertainment and is owner Disney to acknowledge Jack Kirby's authorship and primary role in the creation of these characters. As well, we urge Marvel to pay Kirby's family royalties for the use of these characters and stories.

Until such a time as Marvel can make things right with Kirby's legacy and Kirby's family and heirs, we will refuse to purchase any Marvel product, including comic books, movies, toys, or games. We ask Marvel, Disney, and its shareholders to act ethically and morally in this situation, just as their characters would.

Change.org|Start an Online Petition »

Marvel Boycott Diary: SOPA de Gran Pena

It's been a heady few weeks in Marvel Boycott land, ever since information about the supporters behind the U.S. online piracy bill were revealed. The Stop Online Piracy bill or the HR 3261 bill (also known as SOPA) is intended to give sweeping powers to law enforcement and copyright holders to curtail the illegal use of copyrighted material online. Opponents of the proposed law say in infringes on freedom of speech and the ideal of the internet as a boundless source of information and critical thought (as Eddie Campbell explains here, the threat of the bill is already having a chilling effect). One of the initial corporations to back the bill, domain name registrar Go Daddy, pulled its support after a user backlash and threatened boycott. Now that Marvel Entertainment and parent company Disney, as well as DC Comics owner Warner Bros, have been revealed as supporters, many people have been calling for similar boycotts of these companies, with Marvel coming in for special scrutiny.

I might remark at this point that while it is heartening to see such support for First Amendment rights, fair use, and a free and democratic web, it is a source of continuous heartbreak that the same forces of independent thought and moral righteousness have not been arrayed against Marvel/Disney on the issue of doing right by way of Jack Kirby's legacy in terms of giving credit, copyright, and royalties for his creations to the family of Jack Kirby, but to do so would be to confuse two different issues. Why quibble? I support both Marvel Boycotts. Down with SOPA! Justice for Jack Kirby!

If you don't agree with SOPA, and as of this writing, many, many people, including internet trendsetter Al Gore and Google's Sergey Brin, do not, you could do worse than write a "Dear Marvel" letter at this site.

Follow SOPA news on twitter.

(image: detail from "Ecce Homo" by Gilbert Hernandez)