TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION, Plaintiff, -against- MARVEL ENTERPRISES, INC., TRIBUNE ENTERTAINMENT CO., FIREWORKS COMMUNICATIONS, INC., and FIREWORKS TELEVISION (US) INC., Defendants. MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC., Plaintiff, -against- TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION, Defendant., 155 F. Supp. 2d 1

Summary

The publisher licensed the film company to make a movie based on a comic book series. After the movie was released, the publisher developed a similar set of characters to be used by the television production company. In promoting the new characters, the publisher used clips and trailers from the movie. The court held that resolution of the contract claim would depend on extrinsic evidence, so dismissal was inappropriate. The film company's bad faith allegations were conclusory and the breach of good faith and fair dealing claim was duplicative of the contract claim. Nothing in defendants' actions suggested intent to induce breach so the tortious interference with a contract claim failed. The remedy for improper exploitation of the character names and associated property lay in contract rather than trademark, as the film company was only a licensee. The film company sufficiently alleged a copyright claim with respect to its logos and showed likelihood of success on its claim regarding ...