OPINION AND ORDER Plaintiff Horizon Comics Productions, Inc. (“Horizon”) initiated this action against Defendants Marvel Entertainment, LLC; MVL Film Finance, LLC; Marvel Worldwide, Inc.; Marvel Studios, LLC; DMG Entertainment, LLC; and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Inc. (collectively, “Marvel”), alleging copyright infringement under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §101 et seq. (Dkt. No. 2 (“Compl.”).) Marvel has moved for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 56, on the grounds that Marvel did not have access to Horizon’s work at issue and that Marvel’s Iron Man 3 poster was independently created. (Dkt. No. 96.) For the reasons that follow, the motion is granted.I. BackgroundA. Factual BackgroundThe following facts are drawn primarily from the parties’ Rule 56.1 statements, and are not subject to genuine dispute unless otherwise noted.1. The Posters at IssueMarvel is the copyright holder, creator, and distributor of the Iron Man and Avenger movie franchises. (Compl. 1.) After releasing the first two Iron Man movies, Marvel dropped another blockbuster, Iron Man 3, on May 3, 2013. (Dkt. Nos. 111, 115 (collectively, “SUF”) 24.) Around the time of the movie’s debut, Marvel released an Iron Man 3 poster (the “Iron Man 3 Poster”) on Yahoo! and displayed it throughout U.S. and Canadian theaters. (SUF 46.) The Iron Man 3 Poster features Iron Man — a fictional superhero played by the actor Robert Downey Jr. (“RDJ”) — kneeling and crouching in his red and gold armor. (See Compl. at 14.)Around twelve years prior to the release of Iron Man 3, in 2001, comic book artists Ben and Ray Lai, the brothers who own Horizon, created a character named Caliban for their comic book series called Radix. (SUF
1-3.) In connection with their comic book series, the Lai brothers also designed a drawing depicting Caliban with his mechanized suit of armor in a kneeling pose (the “Caliban Drawing”). (SUF 3; see Compl. at 14.) Three editions of Radix were ultimately published between 2001 and 2002, but none of them contained the Caliban Drawing. (SUF 2, 7.)Horizon alleges that Marvel infringed its copyright in the Caliban Drawing by copying it in designing the Iron Man 3 Poster. (Compl. 31.) A side-by-side comparison of the two images is reproduced below.2. The Lai Brothers’ Interactions with MarvelAfter Radix came out, it gathered substantial interest in the comic industry. (SUF
