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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Lee V.Stan

There's another legal war about to break out over costumed superheros..And it ain't gonna be pretty...The tale is twisted enough to have bounced right from the comics pages itself.

The Associated Press reports that shareholders of an ill-fated Stan Lee venture are seeking more than $750 million in profits from flicks based on Marvel characters such as Spider-Man, X-Men and Iron Man.



The lawsuit was filed Monday in a Manhattan federal court on behalf of four shareholders of Stan Lee Media. Defendants include Lee, his wife, New York-based Marvel Entertainment, and former Marvel CEO Avi Arad.

The lawsuit claims profits from Lee's comic creations belong to the company, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2006. The suit claims Lee and others ignored the company and shareholder's interests.

Lee could not immediately be reached for comment. Marvel said through a spokesman that the lawsuit is filled with "ridiculous claims."--and has filed a $50 million lawsuit against SLM.

His complaint is that the company has misused his name and image and has prevented him from developing his properties 'The Accuser' and 'The Drifter'.

As The Beat points out Lee had long ago relinquished any claims to the Marvel characters he created and therefore could never have transferred ownership to SLM.

The reason for this lawsuit seems simple to me--SLM had collapsed into bankruptcy some time ago and since then though has apparently emerged from bankruptcy protection and is looking to score some unearned assets from Marvel-A money grab...

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