Mattel has filed suit against Donald Glut, who wrote a treatment and four mini-comics prior to the release of the first Masters of the Universe products, seeking to have its ownership of the property affirmed.  The suit states that Glut obtained a copyright in the treatment in January, and is now threatening to sue Mattel for infringing on his copyright; or alternatively, is alleging that he licensed the property to Mattel in 1981 and that the license is shortly expiring. 

The property was developed by Mattel in 1981, beginning with designs for the toys.  Mattel owned Western Publishing for the time, so reached out to Glut, then a writer for the company, to write a treatment and four in-pack mini-comics, which were released with the first line of toys in 1981 or 1982.  The mini-comics were copyrighted by Mattel at the time.    

Mattel argues that Glut’s writing was work for hire and is asking for the court to issue a declaratory judgment affirming its ownership of the copyrights to the comics and the treatment, and that any attempts to gain ownership are barred by the statute of limitations. 

Masters of the Universe has been exploited continuously since its creation, with toys, comics, TV series, movies, and other products ebbing and flowing over the decades.  DC is publishing Masters of the Universe comics, a feature film is in development (see "'Masters of the Universe' Movie"), and a complete collection of the TV shows on  home video was released late last year (see "DVD Round-Up--December 18th").  This summer, DC will launch a new comic miniseries crossing over Masters of the Universe and the DC Universe (see "'MOTU' Meets DCU").