Does this mean that the trademarks, characters, and licensing were shifted away from Marvel when Ron Pearlman almost sent the company (and the whole industry) belly up in the 1990s?
What of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and other CO-creators at Marvel? Did they ever get to establish partial ownership? Or did they settle for a lump sum payment?
The position of the newly reformed Stan Lee Media, under the direction of Nesfield, is that SLM owns 1/2 of the rights that are claimed by Marvel. SLM filed a $5 billion lawsuit a few months ago against Marvel. You can see the links previously provided, the two contracts made by Lee.
There are some very, very powerful attorneys representing Stan Lee Media in both cases.
Stan Lee was dumped by Marvel. Peter Paul was instrumental in setting him free so he could genuinely profit from his creations. At Marvel, he was only an employee. Lee later sued Marvel and got a settlement that was probably in excess of $15 million. Because of the contract signed with SLM that was never disavowed, the position of SLM is that the benefits accrue for SLM and the stockholders.
I don’t know anything about a resolution with Kirby and Ditko.