Stan Lee Media Suing Disney

[meldan98]

Not sure if anyone else saw this, but this really can explain why we haven't seen much integration of Marvel into the parks so far.

(Reuters) - Stan Lee Media, a company that says it controls the rights to Marvel characters including Spider Man and Iron Man, has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Colorado against the Walt Disney Co seeking "billions of dollars of profits."

Stan Lee, no longer associated with the {Stan Lee Media} company, created many of Marvel's stable of comic book characters. The company claims Lee assigned it his rights to those characters in 1998 but then agreed a month later to assign the same rights to Marvel Enterprises.

Disney acquired Marvel Enterprises, which had been renamed Marvel Entertainment, in 2009 for $4.3 billion.

"The Walt Disney Company has represented to the public that it, in fact, owns the copyright to these characters as well as hundreds of other characters created by Stan Lee," the suit alleges. "Those representations made to the public by the Walt Disney Company are false."

The lawsuit focuses on successful movies based on Marvel characters that Disney has released since its Marvel acquisition. Those films include "The Avengers," which has grossed more than $1.5 billion in worldwide sales and is second only to "Avatar" and "Titanic," according to movie site Box Office Mojo.

"This lawsuit is without merit," Walt Disney said in a statement. "It arises out of the same core facts and legal claims that have been rejected by three federal district court judges."

Stan Lee Media, which said it was created in 1999 to "sue to recover damages to its assets," has been involved in what it called a "somewhat tortured history" of litigation dating from 2001 over corporate governance issues and the characters rights in cases filed in Colorado, New York and California.

They include suits between the company, its shareholders and Lee.

The latest suit claims that Stan Lee Media owns the rights "to the billions of dollars that Disney has generated, or allowed others to generate". It cites more than $3.5 billion from motion pictures, and what it calculates is more than $2 billion from "other media," merchandising and the Broadway show "Spiderman: Turn off the Dark."

When I went to D23 and the guy from Marvel did his presentation in the arena, many of the questions he got were about character integration, and his only response was that there were a few legal things that needed to get worked out. Now, it appears, we know what those legal things are.

[PirateLover]

Maybe I'm missing something. If he signed away the character rights to Marvel Enterprises, and Disney bought Marvel Enterprises, then he has no rights to the characters. Is he contesting that he never signed away certain character rights? I love Stan Lee, but like I said unless I'm missing something this seems like a case of sour grapes/regret, and he likely doesn't have a leg to stand on.

[AgentC]

I don't think this has a lot to do with character integration . That has more to do with the rights Universal has to the characters in theme parks.

Stan Lee Media is a company that was started by Stan Lee in the 90's which went bankrupt around 2001. Stan Lee is no longer associated with Stan Lee Media. When he left, he took his characters with him. Stan Lee Media felt he was not entitled to take the characters. They have been suing Stan Lee and the companies who bought the rights from Stan Lee ever since then. They have never won.

[Quadstriker]

The lawsuit focuses on successful movies based on Marvel characters that Disney has released since its Marvel acquisition. Those films include "The Avengers," which has grossed more than $1.5 billion in worldwide sales and is second only to "Avatar" and "Titanic," according to movie site Box Office Mojo.

Where I come from, we call that "third".

Oh and all this helps me understand better the "old man waving cane" reputation that Stan Lee has gained over the last 15 years or so.

[PirateLover]

I don't think this has a lot to do with character integration . That has more to do with the rights Universal has to the characters in theme parks.

Stan Lee Media is a company that was started by Stan Lee in the 90's which went bankrupt around 2001. Stan Lee is no longer associated with Stan Lee Media. When he left, he took his characters with him. Stan Lee Media felt he was not entitled to take the characters. They have been suing Stan Lee and the companies who bought the rights from Stan Lee ever since then. They have never won.

So it's Stan Lee MEDIA that is suing Disney, not Stan Lee the MAN, and Stan Lee the MAN has nothing to do with Stan Lee MEDIA? Oy, this is confusing!

[seanyred]

So it's Stan Lee MEDIA that is suing Disney, not Stan Lee the MAN, and Stan Lee the MAN has nothing to do with Stan Lee MEDIA? Oy, this is confusing!

Who's on first?

[Aurora]

So it's Stan Lee MEDIA that is suing Disney, not Stan Lee the MAN, and Stan Lee the MAN has nothing to do with Stan Lee MEDIA? Oy, this is confusing!

No kidding! This is a really poorly written story. Sounds like it was just a rehash of a news release.

[DizneyRox]

Where I come from, we call that "third".

There goes that Hollywood math again. You know, the same math that said the Lord of the Rings movies didn't make any money when it comes to backend points.

[big blue and hairy]

Sounds to me like a case of "if we sue everyone ever involved in anything to do with Marvel, maybe someone will give us some money". I don't think it's going to be Disney.

[Gator]

I'm sure he's all broke up about it sitting in his 20 million dollar penthouse. If you sell the rights to your characters, then that's it Stanley.

[Quadstriker]

I'm sure he's all broke up about it sitting in his 20 million dollar penthouse. If you sell the rights to your characters, then that's it Stanley.

Stan Lee himself isn't involved.

It's confusing.