Posted on 07/09/2007 6:12:39 PM PDT by doug from upland
NOTE: this is an incredible story. Shining the light on this bankruptcy case will shine more light on the Clintons. The case was filed today at 5pm in Federal District Court in Los Angeles.
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Spider Man Creator Stan Lee and POW! Entertainment (POWN) Sued by Stan Lee Media for Illegalities In Bankruptcy Transfers
Federal Lawsuit filed Monday by Stan Lee Media in Los Angeles Details Frauds by SpiderMan Creator Lee in Taking Assets from Bankruptcy Estate to Launch New Public Company Owned and Operated by Lee and SLM Insiders
LOS ANGELES July 9, 2007 -- The company that was founded by Spider Man creator Stan Lee in 1999 and saved from attempted legal annihilation by Lee in November 2006 by Wall Street whistleblower James Nesfield has today filed suit against Lee and his new public company POW Entertainment for illegal transfers of assets from the Estate in Bankruptcy along with other allegations of serious wrongdoing.
The following are pertinent quotes from the Complaint:
8.defendants have conspired to commit and have otherwise engaged in acts of fraud upon plaintiff, plaintiff’s shareholders, plaintiff’s creditors and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.
9.defendant Stan Lee with the help of other insiders (Gil Champion and Arthur Lieberman)founded two new companies named POW! And QED in or about November 2001. Thereafter, Stan Lee proceeded illegally to transfer substantial assets of plaintiff into QED and POW!, all while plaintiff was in bankruptcy and while Stan Lee should have been protecting plaintiff’s assets from misappropriation. The acts of Stan Lee and his newly formed companies were perpetrated with the specific intent to (a) mislead the Bankruptcy Court, (B) violate express orders of the Bankruptcy court, and (c) loot and defraud plaintiff and plaintiff’s shareholders and creditors for defendants’ personal financial gain.
18. The October 151998 Employment/Rights Agreement from Stan Lee included an assignment in favor of Stan Lee Entertainment Inc., which stated in pertinent part: “I [Stan Lee] assign, convey and grant to [Stan Lee Entertainment Inc.] forever all right, title and interest I may have or control now or in the future in the following: Any and all ideas, names, titles, characters, symbols, logos, designs, likenesses, visual representations, artwork, stories, plots, scripts, episodes, literary property and the conceptual universe related thereto, including my name and likeness (the ‘Property’) which will or have been in whole or part disclosed in writing to.published merchandised, advertised and/or licensed by [Stan Lee Entertainment Inc.]its affiliates and successors in interest and licensees (which by agreement inures to [Stan Lee Entertainment Inc.’s] benefit) or any of them and any copyrights, trademarks, statutory rights, common law, goodwill, moral rights and any other rights whatsoever in the Property in any and all media and/or fields, including all rights to renewal or extensions of copyright and make applications or institute suits therefore (the ‘Rights’). ” Plaintiff is currently the rightful owner and holder of all rights and assets set forth in the October 15, 1998 Agreement as plaintiff is the ultimate successor in interest to Stan Lee Entertainment Inc.a Delaware corporation.
25.Since October 15, 1998, the October 15, 1998 Agreement has never been terminated and remains in full force and effect.
26. The October 15, 1998 Agreement was recorded by plaintiff on or about November 28, 2006 with the United States Copyright Office. (and has not been challenged)
The claim includes rights to ownership of all creations of Stan Lee since he left SLM: K) including but not limited to everything he has worked on while affiliated with defendants POW! And QED.
76. Contrary to plaintiff’s ownership rights to same the defendants have used, marketed, licensed, merchandised, promoted, advertised and otherwise exploited the Assets for their own financial benefit and without the participation, authority and consent of plaintiff. Defendants have used or licensed Stan Lee’s name and/or likeness in conjunction with their efforts.
Allegations of SEC Fraud in Public Statements and Actions by POW
82. On or about December 13, 2005, the defendant POW! issued a press release containing false and misleading factual information which clearly demonstrates its intent as well as the intent of the other defendants to assert control and ownership over the Assets and Properties as well as the name and likeness of Stan Lee to the exclusion of the plaintiff: “Los Angeles, CA , December 13, 2005- POW! Entertainment (PK: POWN)has announced that POW! Entertainment acquired the exclusive rights and ownership in perpetuity to the name “Stan Lee” ...
This lawsuit is being filed by famed Los Angeles litigator Pierce O'Donnell and managed by Sean Sheppard of the Andersen Firm in Florida.
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About Stan Lee Media: Stan Lee Media can be found on the World Wide Web at http://WWW.stanleemedia.net
Stan Lee Media, founded by Stan Lee in October 1998 to build an Internet based Super Hero creation and production studio in Hollywood, emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 6, 2006 under the control of Wall Street whistleblower James Nesfield. The law suit, filed against Marvel on March 15, 2007 and now against Stan Lee et al, resulted from a rigorous legal review and forensic analysis of all rights, assets and claims that survived Stan Lee Media's six year bankruptcy proceedings as remaining assets of the company.
Mr. Nesfield became identified on 60 Minutes and in his testimony before the U.S. Senate as the whistle blower who exposed the biggest Wall Street fraud in history, the trillion dollar Mutual Fund Market Timing Scandal. Mr. Nesfield followed Stan Lee Media since its inception as a high flying NASDQ dot Com company during its publicized run up to a $350 million market cap in February 2000 and its flame out in December 2000, when its third death spiral convertible financing was announced on November 30, 2000.
After Stan Lee Media filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in Los Angeles in February 2001, Mr. Nesfield followed the actions by the Debtor in Possession management directed by Stan Lee, noting that the bulk of the company's assets were hidden and/or transferred indirectly to a new public company, POW Entertainment, created by Stan Lee and other Stan Lee Media insiders Gil Champion and Arthur Lieberman.
Mr. Nesfiled determined that the Primary Asset of the company, all of Stan Lee's Intellectual Property rights, had remained with the company when it was dismissed for cause as warranted by the US Trustee Jennifer Braun. When the company reverted to the control of shareholders, Nesfield became President and Chairman of the revived company.
After rigorous legal review of all the actions taken by or on behalf of the company since its inception, Mr. Nesfield confirmed that, among the Intellectual Property rights that Stan Lee assigned to capitalize his new company in October 1998, were all of his co-creator's rights to his Marvel creations. After Stan Lee's lifetime exclusive employment contract with Marvel was voided during Marvel's Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceedings in 1998, all of Stan Lee's rights reverted back to him. When Lee gave everything he owned in the "creative universe" as of October 15, 1998 to his new company it included Lee's 50% ownership interest in the largest entertainment franchises in the industry.
Some reporters have been alerted about the filing. Let’s see how many others will come here to get their breaking news. Hey, Drudge, are you listening?
They need to get a judge to stop all destruction of records, emails and so forth. You also want to go collect all prior company computers with warrants and to read everything there, including deleted files.
Also, EMAILS is a big deal, you have cause to go get everyones Emails and to observe communications in writing between themselves over what was conspired between them.
Most people don’t realize Email is forever and that servers probably still have them all.
They are not only due the 50% from the deal, but are due punitive damages probably worth another 30+%. If Lee doesn't settle out of court, then a criminal referral will be made as you said.
Fun stuff. :-)
Wonder how his new character “SUPER SNEAKY” will do.
Lee should have settled. I guess we are going to see if he got bad advice.
After watching the Who Wants to be a Superhero? reality show last season, I thought Stan Lee was a decent guy until I saw the illegal campaign video with him in it. He had his head so far up Hitlery's @ss it almost made me throw up. Then this. What a loser.
This won’t see a court for 2-7 years.
My friend had to live with his ca ca for almost 10 years I think.
By that time, Stan Lee could be dead.
Anyway, he can offer to make the whole thing go away 7 years from now and still avoid criminal referral if it goes like my friends stuff went.
I’m going on the past and the state of California, I have no clue if laws changes and other differences here though.
Watch out for Bomb Threats.
I don’t fault Stan for kissing up to Hillary. He wanted to build the public company. That is business. When I first met Peter Paul in North Carolina over two years ago, I told him what I thought of him for funding Hillary. He agreed that it was the biggest mistake of his life. Unfortunately, he was wrapped up in business over 18 hours a day for quite some time. He had quit paying attention to politics and had no idea how bad Bill and Hillary really were. Scoff if you want, but that is how it was. He had tunnel vision trying to build a business. No matter who was the president, a former president can raise huge sums of money very quickly. He made the deal to fund Hillary so that Bill would raise money for the company for one year.
As I said earlier, I don’t know if a criminal referral has been made. I can say that it would not surprise me.
I can assure you no criminal referrals have been made yet.
The possible referrals would be a chip to bargain with in what will be the out of court settlement.
Unless there is a crooked Judge favoring Lee, I can not see him getting away without having to settle out of court, which would have them all paying the 50% due plus fairly massive damages.
I don’t think you can assure me that no criminal referrals have been made. Keep in mind also a potential problem with the SEC. POW! Entertainment is a public company with stockholders. What did they tell their stockholders in their offerings? What was told to Disney or to anyone else who has made agreements with POW!?
From the company profile, do you think there might be a problem:
POW! Entertainment has the exclusive rights and ownership in perpetuity to the name “Stan Lee,” his likeness, brand and signature slogans “Stan Lee Presents,” “Excelsior” and “Stan’s Soap Box.” POW! also acquired most of the intellectual properties created by Stan Lee during the period beginning after his tenure as Marvel’s chief creative officer, editor in chief, and publisher and predate POW! Entertainment. The rights are in addition to new properties that are currently being developed by Stan Lee for other major entertainment conglomerates on behalf of POW! Entertainment.
From Hillary or POW?
Yep, that should generate 100 thousand documents of discovery at least. :-)
Kirhy is dead, I think.
This will be painful as I have a collection of hundreds of issues dating from the early 70's....but Stan Lee is a POS and I cannot in good conscience keep them in my possesion or allow them to exist any longer.
I'm a DC man from now on.
Well, that’s a nice fantasy scenario for Bill. But it won’t fly.
Three days after the Gala of Aug. 12, 2000, Peter’s role in the $8.7 mil sting on Fidel Castro was revealed. The Clintons, through the lying weasel Howard Wolfson, disavowed Peter. If you were Bill Clinton, how would you explain meeting Peter as you stepped off Air Force One in Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 2000? There are witnesses and photographic evidence.
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