Jack Kirby who co-created the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Thor, The Avengers and Nick Fury among others finally had his lawsuit against Marvel for rights fees settled. Stan Lee was the collaborator.
Jack died a number of years ago. But his heirs continued the lawsuit. Jack's heirs lost at Federal Court and the Court of Appeals. But the US Supreme Court unexpectedly decided to take the case. At this point Marvel settled with Jack's heirs. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
This gets into the details of copyright law which I will not bore you with. But Jack Kirby's lawsuit against Marvel for rights to his original artwork (eventually settled) and then some royalty fees for his creative work and the movie, toy spin-offs has been a topic of conversation in the comic/nerd worlds since the 1980s. It is now, finally, resolved.
I was never a fan of Kirby's art (and I know I'll take crap for that), but I fully recognize his contributions to helping get the phenomenon going, and it's good that Marvel et al are finally recognizing that as well.
artists are always getting shit on. >:( when I first found out what designers were charging for the work I was doing I shit many a brick and jacked my prices to hell and back. 400%+ my frikin lilly white ass!!!!