The estate of the man who helped create some of the most memorable comic book characters in history is taking up a legal battle. According to The New York Times, the estate of comic book legend Jack Kirby has sent out notices of copyright termination to Marvel, Sony, Universal, Fox and other studios who have produced films based off his characters.

The estate sent out 45 copyright termination notices last week, and they state the desire of Kirby's estate to retain copyrights on characters he created by the year 2014.

Kirby passed away in 1994 but his work with Stan Lee has left a lasting legacy in both comics and film. Kirby was involved in such works that have been popular film fodder today such as The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Iron Man and The Avengers.

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