Elonka wrote:
] As I understand it, NCSoft didn't create a Marvel character in
] the game, but they do give players the abilities to design
] their own characters, and a couple of those characters seem to
] be obvious copies of Marvel characters.

Seems a fair use to me. But then, I also think fan fiction ought to be a fair use. These activities do not diminish the marketability of the original product. If anything, they contribute to it. Our society must learn to differentiate between an instance where someone has taken the character set from a little known work, and recast it in a larger production in order to profit from someone else's ideas, and a situation where a large production has become so infused into our culture that it becomes part of the way that we express ourselves, and in that context someone uses a part of that production to express themselves. Referencing is not the same as stealing.

RE: Marvel Sues NcSoft over Characters in 'City of Heroes' MMORPG