Kurt Angle Mark 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 I read this in today's L.A. Times World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. is suing comic-book company Marvel Enterprises Inc. to continue using the "Hulk Hogan" name. Hulk Hogan, played by Terry Bollea, has been one of World Wrestling's most popular wrestlers since the 1980s. In 1985, World Wrestling signed a 20-year contract after it was accused by Marvel of infringing on the "Incredible Hulk" comic-book character. The agreement covered the words "Hulk Hogan," "Hulkamania" and "Hulkster," according to the lawsuit. World Wrestling needs clear rights to continue using the Hulk Hogan name because it begins a subscription video-on-demand service that will feature its 75,000-hour library of old wrestling matches. The company is also planning to release videos and DVDs of old matches. Marvel, which owns Spider-Man and the X-Men characters, contends that World Wrestling must stop using the "Hulk Hogan" name once the licensing contract expires — which also is in dispute. Marvel says it ended July 9, while World Wrestling says it ends in March. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Fook Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Shouldn't it give the expiration date right on the contract? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Mandarin 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Vince McMahon vs. Stan Lee- Hell in a Cell Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Danny Dubya v 2.0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Uh oh. Better make sure Hogan goes back to being Mr America when he returns, or else another Hulk is going to get angry and.. um, throw large objects and eat trees or whatever. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
algrim 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Vince must be out of his mind. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Last Free Voice Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Seriously, how does Vince think he can win this? Kirby and Lee invented the Hulk YEARS before Hogan came around... right? (My timescale is naturally horrible) Is he gonna try to settle out of court again? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Dynamite Kido Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Meh, money is made from both sides.....they'll come to an agreement. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steviekick 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Fear of these lawsuits was one of the big reasons why WCW was very happy to call him Hollywood Hogan. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FrigidSoul Report post Posted July 20, 2004 From the article it appears that Marvel is suing Vince. Quite frankly I don't see how they have the grounds to do so since Hogan never turned Green or gained 1000lbs of muscle mass when made angry. The judge should tell both parties to cut the shit and go play nice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steviekick 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Seriously, how does Vince think he can win this? Kirby and Lee invented the Hulk YEARS before Hogan came around... right? (My timescale is naturally horrible) Is he gonna try to settle out of court again? The Incredible Hulk debuted over 40 years ago. Hulk Hogan debuted in 1980? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
starvenger 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Kinda tangential, but I notice that they haven't called Benoit the "rabid wolverine" in a while. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ShootingStylesPress Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Yeah, but it's "wolverine" like the wolf animal, not "Wolverine" like *snikt snikt* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spaceman Spiff 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Big deal. Just blur him out of everything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DerangedHermit 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Big deal. Just blur him out of everything. Or cut all mentions of Hulk Hogan. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Staravenger Report post Posted July 20, 2004 What is Marvel Comics hard on with lawsuits? I can understand the Disney thing over X-Men or whatever, but it's just a wrestler named HULK HOGAN and hee's not even called the Incredible Hulk Hogan anymore. He stopped using that name in like 1984! I'm more than sure even a retarded 8 year old knows the difference from the comic character (guy morphs into a giant green monster with incredible strength) and the wrestler (orange guy with incredible strength). I say Vince brings back Arachniman from WCW past to dick with them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JHawk 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 (edited) *sigh* You'd think Vince would have learned after the WWF lawsuit. That one should have been obvious too since one logo had a panda and the letters on it and the other didn't even look like the letters at first glance, but he lost that one too. Did Marvel ever lose revenue because people thought Hulk Hogan was going to be in their comics and were pissed because he wasn't? Because unless they can prove that, I think they're all idiots. BTW, isn't a lawsuit from Marvel what stopped WCW from using the Arachniman gimmick? Granted, the gimmick was total wrestlecrap, but that had never stopped WCW before. Edited July 20, 2004 by JHawk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BDC Report post Posted July 20, 2004 They're just trying to get the contract deadline extended. It seems to me that contesting over the word "Hulk" should basically be differentiated by the court. Each has established its own identity. I wouldn't bash Vince on this one, he's abiding by the contract, just trying to extend it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
evilhomer 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 From the article it appears that Marvel is suing Vince. Quite frankly I don't see how they have the grounds to do so since Hogan never turned Green or gained 1000lbs of muscle mass when made angry. The judge should tell both parties to cut the shit and go play nice. Little inconsequential things like facts and common sense have never garnered any interest in courts and they aren't about to weed their way in now. There's money to be made and it's still illegal to shoot lawyers. With that combination this type of thing will always see legal action. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
starvenger 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Yeah, but it's "wolverine" like the wolf animal, not "Wolverine" like *snikt snikt* I'd agree, but there's some evidence that Marvel could try to use, even if it's circumstantial: - short - Canadian - those stripey things on uniform (which Benoit no longer uses, and Wolverine just went back to) - facial hair You'd think Vince would have learned after the WWF lawsuit. That one should have been obvious too since one logo had a panda and the letters on it and the other didn't even look like the letters at first glance, but he lost that one too. Don't forget about the Gangrel thing either. Did Marvel ever lose revenue because people thought Hulk Hogan was going to be in their comics and were pissed because he wasn't? Because unless they can prove that, I think they're all idiots. They can prove that the WWE was paying them before. So it amounts to Marvel wanting to get paid. I'm more than sure even a retarded 8 year old knows the difference from the comic character (guy morphs into a giant green monster with incredible strength) and the wrestler (orange guy with incredible strength). Rob Liefeld's back on the Marvel payroll. I'm sure that if he drew and coloured the Hulk, you wouldn't be able to tell which one it was... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jester 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Big deal. Just blur him out of everything. Or cut all mentions of Hulk Hogan. And WWE revisionist history will go to work! "Then at Wrestlemania III, Dave Batista Senior picked up Andre and slammed him in front of 90,000 screaming Batistamaniacs who packed the Silverdome.." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Dids Report post Posted July 20, 2004 There's always been an agreement between Marvel and Vince to allow the usage of the Hulk name. WWE has always acknowleged that Marvel holds the trademark in this case. Sounds like that agreement as expired and now they're fighting about how to renew it. Y'all are making this more than what it is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 You know what's funny? It was a twenty year contract. I wonder if Vince expected him to be with the company for twenty years? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
starvenger 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 There's always been an agreement between Marvel and Vince to allow the usage of the Hulk name. WWE has always acknowleged that Marvel holds the trademark in this case. Sounds like that agreement as expired and now they're fighting about how to renew it. Y'all are making this more than what it is. It all comes down to the word "sue", which has negative connotations. Blame the media, I guess. And yes, we're making mountains out of molehills here. But if we didn't, we wouldn't be smart marks, would we? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
David Blazenwing 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Big deal. Just blur him out of everything. And now, a WrestleMania recap... from WrestleMania X8 in Toronto... The Rock vs. a Big Blur! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tawren 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Marvel also made WWE change Rhino to Rhyno because Rhino is a Spider-Man villain. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DerangedHermit 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Each has established its own identity. Yeah.......one's a big green guy who ya wouldn't want to mess with, and the other one's a big yellow and red guy who ya wouldn't want to punch near the end of a match. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karnage 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2004 Marvel also made WWE change Rhino to Rhyno because Rhino is a Spider-Man villain. I think the WWF just changed it to be safe like they did with Tazz. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Staravenger Report post Posted July 20, 2004 So you're telling me you can sue over the name of an animal? (Rhino) That's like the Simpsons suing over a wrestler called (The) Snake. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndrewTS 0 Report post Posted July 21, 2004 Yeah, but it's "wolverine" like the wolf animal, not "Wolverine" like *snikt snikt* A WOLVERINE IS NOTHING LIKE A WOLF!! Think of it as a "skunk bear." Rob Liefeld's back on the Marvel payroll. I'm sure that if he drew and coloured the Hulk, you wouldn't be able to tell which one it was... They brought him back?!??! God only knows why. Don't forget about the Gangrel thing either. There wasn't ever a lawsuit about that, to my knowledge. WWE even credited White Wolf in the video games. Vince McMahon vs. Stan Lee- Hell in a Cell Two rich, once-great, senile old perverts--I see them more likely making some sort of settlement and going out to a nudie bar together. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BDC Report post Posted July 21, 2004 There wasn't ever a lawsuit about that, to my knowledge. WWE even credited White Wolf in the video games. They worked out the deal with White Wolf before Gangreal ever debuted. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
