The Ghost Rider will not be driving Marvel into a trial after all. “This letter is to notify you that the Plaintiffs and the Marvel Defendants (including Disney) have amicably agreed to resolve all claims between, among, and against all parties,” said plaintiff and former Marvel freelancer Gary Friedrich’s lawyer in a letter late last week to NYC-based federal District Judge Katherine Forrest (read it here). While no details of the settlement were mention in Charles Krammer’ September 6 letter and no final paperwork has been filed yet, we’ll take that “amicably” at face value and assumed everyone got a piece of the fiery motorcycle-riding superhero. Created in the early 1970s partially by Friedrich, Ghost Rider has been made into two not unsuccessful pics starring Nicolas Cage in 2007 and 2011. Friedrich first filed against Marvel, Columbia TriStar, Relativity Media and others back in 2007, claiming that he owned the renewal term copyrights on the character and his origin story. The case was probably getting a little too hot for some’s comfort. In late June, Judge Forrest set the trial to start on November 4. The judge’s decision came just over two weeks after the Second Court of Appeals overturned a 2011 ruling of hers in Marvel’s favor. Now it is all legal smoke soon to disappear. Krammer and Joe Schneider of Riezman Berger PC represent Friedrich. Randi Singer and James Quinn of Weil Gotshal & Manges and Haynes & Boones’ David Fleischer represent Marvel Enterprises and the other defendants.
Related: Disney Wins Dismissal Of Marvel Copyright Lawsuit With Stan Lee Media