Judge sides with Disney in Marvel character dispute

September 9, 2013 1:00 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Disney's decision to buy Marvel in 2009 did not eliminate the possibility of copyright lawsuits between the two parties. Last week, one of those disputes came to a close.

A federal judge ruled that Disney owns the rights to Marvel characters created by famed comic book writer and former president and chairman of Marvel Comics Stan Lee, according to an article in Deadline Hollywood.

The dispute first arose in 2012 when Stan Lee Media filed a multibillion dollar lawsuit against Disney claiming that it was owed a share of the $5.5 billion profit that Disney has made from Marvel movies and merchandise.

While Lee himself is not involved with the company, Stan Lee Media cited an agreement in 1998, in which Lee signed over the rights to characters like Iron Man, the X-Men, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. As a result of this deal, Stan Lee Media claimed that Disney never actually bought the rights to those characters.

Disney argued that the claims were ridiculous.

"There is no conceivable basis on which Plaintiff can state a viable copyright claim against TWDC in this Court, or for that matter, any other," the Disney motion read.

U.S. District judge William J. Martinez agreed, writing that Stan Lee Media has made repeated efforts to push this line of reasoning without success.

"Plaintiff has tried time and again to claim ownership of those copyrights; the litigation history arising out of the 1998 Agreement stretches over more than a decade and at least six courts," he wrote.

It's not uncommon for large media companies to face legal claims from smaller entities. A Phoenix business attorney can help these companies mount their defense.

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Judge sides with Disney in Marvel character dispute

September 9, 2013 1:00 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Disney's decision to buy Marvel in 2009 did not eliminate the possibility of copyright lawsuits between the two parties. Last week, one of those disputes came to a close.

A federal judge ruled that Disney owns the rights to Marvel characters created by famed comic book writer and former president and chairman of Marvel Comics Stan Lee, according to an article in Deadline Hollywood.

The dispute first arose in 2012 when Stan Lee Media filed a multibillion dollar lawsuit against Disney claiming that it was owed a share of the $5.5 billion profit that Disney has made from Marvel movies and merchandise.

While Lee himself is not involved with the company, Stan Lee Media cited an agreement in 1998, in which Lee signed over the rights to characters like Iron Man, the X-Men, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. As a result of this deal, Stan Lee Media claimed that Disney never actually bought the rights to those characters.

Disney argued that the claims were ridiculous.

"There is no conceivable basis on which Plaintiff can state a viable copyright claim against TWDC in this Court, or for that matter, any other," the Disney motion read.

U.S. District judge William J. Martinez agreed, writing that Stan Lee Media has made repeated efforts to push this line of reasoning without success.

"Plaintiff has tried time and again to claim ownership of those copyrights; the litigation history arising out of the 1998 Agreement stretches over more than a decade and at least six courts," he wrote.

It's not uncommon for large media companies to face legal claims from smaller entities. A Phoenix business attorney can help these companies mount their defense.

Categorised in:

This post was written by