I noticed in the article that the Supreme Court was supposed to decide if they would review it on Monday, and low and behold, settlement today.

Just my speculation, but either (A) Marvel flinched first, realizing how much this COULD be if the Supreme Court looked at it, so they offered the settlement, or (B) the Kirby lawyers realized if the Supreme Court shot down the case, then it might end up stuck in court for even longer, so they decided to settle. It would be interesting to see how that all played out, but obviously none of my/our business in the end.

Glad this is behind everyone.

EDIT: like what Kodave said 1.5 nanoseconds before I posted!