>>105547270>>105547118You're confusing copyright with trademark.
Trademarks are renewed every now and then, copyrights have a duration. For example, Superman (in his original incarnation) goes public domain in 2033, when that copyright expires. The Fawcett Comics Captain Marvel is mostly still in copyright except for his second issue, which wasn't claimed properly and is a public domain work in consequence.
>>105547304That's what happened to the Fawcett Comics Captain Marvel when National forced them out of business - Fawcett continued to exist as a publisher, but because their comics were no longer making money and nobody saw any way to make them make money (especially as they'd promised National they wouldn't), they let all their trademarks lapse. 15 years later Marvel Comics (which had become Marvel Comics 5 years after Fawcett went out of business) chose to create a new Captain Marvel.
5 years after that, DC Comics (who had previously been National Comics) rented the Fawcett Comics back catalog from Fawcett with the express idea of suing Marvel Comics for infringement, only to find that they'd rented a redheaded mule's stepson because all the trademarks were lapsed. Their settlement with Marvel Comics was almost immediate (DC had after all begun legal proceedings without any reason to do so at all) and accepted that Marvel Comics owned the name Captain Marvel for all marketing purposes. Marvel magnanimously accepted that DC owned the legacy uses of the name (DC's subsequent marketing of the character was all under the SHAZAM! brand, even in the 1970s). In 1978 DC finally bought the rest of the Fawcett rights, coming to own the character outright probably more to protect their own investment than for any other reason.
