Scots comic legend kicks ass in £1bn lawsuit
U.S. judges dump unknown writer’s claim that Mark Millar stole his ideas
A £1 BILLION lawsuit accusing Scots comic book creator Mark Millar of stealing ideas from an unknown writer has been thrown out by the highest court in the US. Michael Bennett claimed that Millar had plagiarised his selfpublished superhero novel Owl for comic book stories and movies. Bennett, of Norcross, Georgia, claimed he had sent his manuscript to comic book publisher Marvel in 2008 and alleged it had then fallen into Millar’s hands. However, although Millar previously worked on Marvel projects, he was never an employee of the company and lived in Scotland at the time. Bennett sued Mi l lar, 50, originally of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, and Marvel for copyright infringement. He was seeking £930million in damages but his case was dismissed by Judge Eleanor L Ross in January last year at the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Bennett appealed the decision to the US Supreme Court and requested a judicial review. His petition was denied earlier this month after the court found his claclaims were unfounded, mmeaning he has now exexhausted all legal avenues. Bennett claimed scenes in the Avengers movies and KicKick-Ass, based on Millar’s comcomic book creation, were simsimilar to scenes in Owl. HHe alleged the writer had taken his Owl character’s wings and costumec to revamp the CaptaCaptain America and Falcon characters. He also made bogus claims that Millar had hackedh into his phonephone. DisDismissing the case last yyear, Judge Ross found Bennett’s examplesples of similarities betwbetween his book and the wwork of Millar and MaMarvel were “broad ideideas” found in most actaction movies and comcomic books rather ththan copyright ininfringement.