A £1 BILLION lawsuit accusing Coatbridge 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 movie producer Millar had plagiarised his self-published superhero novel Owl for comic book stories and movies.
Bennett, of Norcross, Georgia, said 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 Millar, 50, 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 claims were unfounded, meaning he has now exhausted all legal avenues.
Bennett claimed scenes in the Avengers movies and Kick-Ass, based on Millar’s comic book creation, were similar to scenes in Owl.
He alleged the writer had taken his Owl character’s wings and costume to revamp the Captain America and Falcon characters.
He also made bogus claims that Millar had hacked into his phone.
Dismissing the case last year, Judge Ross found Bennett’s examples of similarities between his book and the work of Millar and Marvel were “broad ideas” found in most action movies and comic books rather than copyright infringement.
