Judge rules legal fee dispute in Montreal artists' case against Marvel will be decided at trial

Judge rules legal fee dispute in Montreal artists' case against Marvel will be decided at trial

Montreal comic-book artists siblings Ben and Ray Lai said they first noticed that Marvel's Iron Man character looked a whole lot like something they had drawn a decade ago in 2013.

"The first reaction is that they copied.  That they, you know, it's.. We know we work for them. We worked in the comic book industry," Ray said in an interview.

The brothers created Radix comic books and alleged Marvel used their designs for Iron Man and Ant-Man. The brothers said that, at one point, they even worked for Marvel.

"We strongly believe that they, you know, they they've seen our work so and that they copied," Ray said.

They were back in court Friday because their lawyer filed a motion alleging Marvel has caused delays in the case. Desrosiers wants Marvel to reimburse the Lai brothers $180,000 for legal fees.

"We thought that their position was abusive, like sending us tens of thousands of documents, not naming the documents, not putting a name, a date on the documents," Desrosiers said.

However, the judge ruled it would be best if this issue was decided by the judge who would hear the lawsuit.

Desrosiers acknowledged that it is not an easy battle going up against companies like Marvel and Disney.

"Having two law firms defending them in this litigation. They were four, five lawyers in court this morning. So, it's a tough battle."

CTV News contacted Marvel but never heard back. Lawyers representing Marvel did not want to answer questions at the courthouse.

A date for a trial has not been set, but Desrosiers said it won't happen before 2026.