Stan Lee Media Sues Marvel ($5 billion) --- plus see the two contracts

Stan Lee Media, a company founded in 1998 by celebrated comic-book creator Stan Lee, is suing Marvel Ent. for $5 billion. Filed yesterday in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the claim alleges that Lee, after his employment with Marvel was terminated nine years ago, transferred rights to comic book characters he co-created to Stan Lee Media ownership.

Lee, who is no longer affiliated with Stan Lee Media and has no part in the suit, issued a statement reading, "I do not support this action and believe the suit to be baseless." The comic guru is currently suing the Stan Lee Media, challenging the legitimacy of its management. The company recently went into bankruptcy and is seeking to recover revenues Marvel has earned from such popular comic-book properties as Spider-Man, X-Men and The Incredible Hulk. Marvel says the claim has no merit and is confident that it will prevail in the dispute.

Stan Lee currently serves as publisher emeritus of Marvel Comics, while also running POW! Ent. He himself sued Marvel Ent. in November or 2002, claiming that he was entitled to a share of profits earned by the company from the blockbuster Spider-Man movies and other film and television productions that feature Marvel characters. Marvel was ordered to pay him 10% of profits earned since 1998 and appealed the decision, but later settled with Lee for an undisclosed amount.

Okay, Marvel claims the suit has no merit. For the first time, FReepers, here are the two contracts for your consideration.

Confirming our discussions, this letter, when accepted and agreed by you, shall constitute an agreement-between you and Stan Lee Entertainment, Inc. (the "Company") relating to the terms of your employment with the Company as set forth below:

1. Stan Lee will serve as Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Company, based in Los Angeles, for a term commencing as of the date hereof and terminating on the death of Stan Lee.

2. Stan Lee's services shall be exclusive with the exception of those services provided under a lifetime agreement with Marvel Enterprises, Inc., which shall require no more than an average of 10 - 15 hours per week on its behalf. All other services performed and intellectual property created for the Company, or for any other entity, which entity shall be approved in writing by the Company, shall inure to the benefit of the Company to the entire extent your participation provides. Your services to Company shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(a) Serve, and be listed in all directories and publications, as Chairman, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of the Company, including attending corporate meetings, developing and supervising development and production of intellectual property in any and all media, directing and guiding the creative staff or staffs of the Company, all subsidiaries and affiliates as reasonably requested by the company.

(b) Act as Executive Producer or Co-Executive Producer for all media productions and receive customary fees accordingly.

(c) Apply your good faith, best efforts to enhance the brand and good will of the company, support and stimulate strategic alliances, joint ventures, sponsors, production partners and all direct and ancillary business of the company.

(d) Serve as spokesman for the company to all media and assemblies as reasonably requested by the company.

(e) Take all actions and contribute all creative talents within your reasonable capability, pursuant to your good faith determination of your schedule, as may reasonably be required to advance the interests of the company.

3. As compensation to you for all rights and services contributed by you, to the Company hereunder, notwithstanding any disability, the Company agrees to provide the following compensation for your life:

a) Base Salary - You shall receive a base salary of $250,000 (Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars) per annum payable in equal monthly installments commencing February 1, 1999, payable to you or any company you so designate in lieu of making payments to you individually.

b) Bonuses - You shall receive bonuses on those projects you personally initiate and/or accomplish with approved entities from your participation as assigned to the company. You shall also receive ten per cent of all net profits after taxes reported by the Company on its Federal Tax Return. The Company will compute, account and pay to you your participation due, if any, on account of said profits, for the annual period ending each January 31 during your life, on an annual basis within a reasonable time after the end of each such period.

c) Stock Options - The Company agrees to issue to you, in accordance with the Company's Stock Option Plan, as and when it may be adopted, the highest number of options offered to Company executives.

d) Expenses/Fringe Benefits - You are to receive prompt reimbursement for all ordinary and necessary business expenses incurred by you in connection with your activities on behalf of the Company upon presentation of appropriate documentation, and you shall be permitted your customary style of business travel, which shall be first class with sedan limousine and stay in deluxe hotels.

e) Insurance - The company shall no later than December 31, 1998, secure a term life insurance policy in the minimum principal sum of two million dollars, providing your designated heir as co-beneficiary with the company on the event of your death.

4. In express consideration for the performance of the foregoing obligations of the Company, you agree as follows:

a) I assign, convey and grant to the Company 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 Company, its affiliates and successors in interest and licensees (which by agreement inures to Company'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 therefor (the "Rights").

b) Subject to a material breach of this agreement, I hereby agree to execute upon request from Company any documents it deems reasonably necessary to effect the purposes of this agreement,

c) Subject to a material breach of this agreement, I will never file with the U.S. Copyright or Patent and Trademark Office or any governmental or public agency, and will never assert or assist others in asserting on my behalf or in claiming rights through me, any claim to ownership of the Rights in the Property, or in making any objection to Company's complete and unrestricted right to use and exploit said Property or Rights in any form, manner or medium Company may desire.

5. This Agreement, including the assignment set forth herein, shall be binding upon the parties hereto, their affiliates and subsidiaries, legal representatives, successors and predecessors in interest, heirs and assigns.

6. The invalidity of any provision or part hereof or obligation hereunder, or the contravention thereby of any law, rule or regulation of any State, the Federal Government or any agency, shall not relieve any party from its obligation under, nor deprive any party of advantages of any other provision of this Agreement.

7. This Agreement will constitute the entire understanding between the parties in connection with Stan Lee's relationship with the Company from the date hereof and may not be amended or modified except by a writing signed by the party charged. This agreement shall be governed by and construed under the laws of the State of California.

================================================== ==================================================

Confirming the various discussions between your attorney Arthur Lieberman and Tuck Hardie of Marvel, this letter when accepted and agreed to by you constitutes an agreement between you and Marvel Enterprises, Inc. ("the Company"), the parent company of Marvel Characters, Inc. ("Marvel"), represented by us to be the survivor after bankruptcy of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc.

1. You will serve as an employee of Company, or one of its affiliates as may be designated by the Company, based in Los Angeles for a term commencing as of the date hereof and terminating on your death. Notwithstanding such death, the compensation provided for in Section 4 hereof shall continue until the last to occur of (i) your death (ii) the death of your present wife, Joan Lee (provided that she is still your wife upon your death) or (iii) five years after the death of both you and Joan Lee, provided that your daughter Joan C. Lee survives both of you.

2. Your services shall be non-exclusive but your work for Marvel shall be on a preferential basis. You shall not, however, be required to put in more time on Marvel's behalf than you have averaged in the last two years, which shall be approximately 10-15 hours per week. Any time in excess of that shall be at your option but without additional compensation. It is agreed that you can engage in and be compensated for any activities outside those performed for the Company or Marvel including activities that are competitive to those of the company or its affiliates, so long as that

competition does not violate any of the intellectual property or other rights of the Company or Marvel or result from the unauthorized disclosure of the Company's proprietary or confidential information, if you are so advised of the proprietary or confidential nature of such information (at the time of disclosure) in writing. Your services to Marvel will consist of the following:

(a) Serve generally as a spokesman for Marvel, including giving speeches and interviews and visiting conventions on Marvel's behalf, as Marvel may from time to time reasonably request;

(b) Conferring on a regular basis with the creative staff at Marvel's various operations, guiding and advising the editorial and art personnel and the like in existing Marvel characters; and

(c) Work with motion picture and television producers and distributors to stimulate their licensing of Marvel characters and supervise movie and television projects of Marvel Characters on Marvel's behalf and be named executive producer or co-executive producer of such productions.

3. You will continue to serve as Publisher of Marvel Comics and your name and likeness shall be non-exclusively licensed to Marvel in the manner it has traditionally appeared on Marvel Comics as more specifically provided for in paragraph 5 below. At your option, Marvel shall name you as Chairman Emeritus of the movie or television company as listed in the Hollywood Creative Directory and/or Publisher or Publisher Emeritus of Marvel Comics, a division of the Company.

4. As compensation to you for your life notwithstanding any disability, Joan Lee, your current wife, and Joan C. Lee, your daughter, the Company agrees

(i) from the date hereof, through October 31, 2002, you are to be paid a base salary (the "Base Salary") of $810,000 per year;

(ii) from November 1, 2000 through October 31, 2001 the Base Salary shall be $850,000;

(iii)from November 1, 2001 through October 31, 2002, the Base Salary shall be $900,000; and

(iv) from November 1, 2002 until death the Base Salary shall be $1.0 million dollars.

All amounts of Base Salary shall be paid in accordance with customary payroll policy on a biweekly or semi-monthly basis. You may elect to have all or any portion of the Base Salary paid to S.L. Productions or any company you so designate in lieu of making the payments to you individually.

(i) Upon your death, your current wife Joan Lee (provided she is your wife at the time of your death) shall be entitled to receive, for the balance of her life, an amount equal to 50% of the Base Salary in effect on the date of your death. Such amounts to be paid in accordance with customary payroll policy as provided in paragraph (a) above.

(ii) Upon your death and Joan Lee's, Joan C. Lee, your daughter, shall be entitled to receive, for a period of five years, the sum of $100,000 (payable in accordance with customary Marvel payroll practices) provided that Joan C. Lee does not predecease either you or your wife Joan Lee. In such case, no amounts would be due by the Company.

(1)The Company agrees to issue to you, in accordance with the Company's 1995 Stock Option Plan (the "Plan"), a total of 150,000 options to purchase shares of the Company's common stock. Such options shall be, if possible be within the employee plan and are, granted as follows: (I) 100,000 options shall be granted at a price equal to the market bid price as of the date of grant, such grant to be made as promptly as practicable following execution on this Letter Agreement, but not later than November 20, 1998; (II) 25,000 options shall be granted not later than the first anniversary of the execution of this Letter Agreement at a price then equal to the market bid price and (III) 25,000 options shall be granted at a price then equal to the market bid price not later than the second anniversary of the execution of this Letter Agreement, each of the above options to vest in the year of granting and be for five years from date of issuance.

If, after November 1, 2002, you personally receive, or any company wholly owned or wholly controlled by you receives revenue from competing business activities, then the Company shall be entitled to set-off from the amounts due as Base Salary hereunder an amount equal to 25% of such competing business revenue (before deduction of expenses and on a pre-tax basis) to a maximum of $190,000 in any contract year (i.e., November 1, through October 31). You agree each year after November 1, 2002 to furnish a certified accountant's statement (with appropriate support) to the Company detailing the computation of said Set-Off. Where the maximum set-off of $190,000 is being permitted a simple statement shall be sufficient.

(i) You are to receive prompt reimbursement for all ordinary and necessary business expenses incurred by you in connection with your activities on behalf of the Company upon presentation of appropriate documentation (included expenses shall be a cell phone) in accordance with Company policy, except that you shall be permitted your customary style of business travel (which shall be first class with limousine and stay in luxury hotels).

(ii) You also continue to have the benefit of a single full-time assistant. (f) In addition, you shall be paid participation equal to 10% of the profits derived during your life by Marvel (including subsidiaries and affiliates) from the profits of any live action or animation television or movie (including ancillary rights) productions utilizing Marvel characters. This participation is not to be derived from the fee charged by Marvel for the licensing of the product or of the characters for merchandise or otherwise. Marvel will compute, account and pay to you your participation due, if any, on account of said profits, for the annual period ending each March 31 during your life, on an annual basis within a reasonable time after the end of each such period.

(g) You will have the right to continue to author the syndicated newspaper comic strip "Spider Man" and receive the same extra compensation therefrom that you have been receiving, to wit, $125,000 annually pursuant to your agreement with Marvel. All such comic strips shall continue to be published as is done in the current circumstances.

5. Subject to paragraph 5(f) below, in express consideration for and expressly dependent upon the faithful performance of the foregoing obligations of Marvel, you, Stan Lee, residing at , agree as follows:

(a) Except for your name, likeness and the integration of either your name or likeness with a specific phrase, such as "Stan's Soap Box", "Stan Lee presents", and except for the term "Excelsior," (as to which Marvel shall have non-exclusive rights of use, in accordance with the terms hereof, the "Non-Exclusive Rights"), you hereby assign, convey and grant (without representations or warranties of any kind except as set forth herein) to Marvel forever throughout the universe all right, title and interest solely and exclusively which you may have or control or which you may have had or controlled in the following: Any and all ideas, names, titles, characters, symbols, logos, designs, likenesses, visual representations, artwork, stories, plots, scripts, comic books or comic strips, episodes, literary property, and the conceptual universe related thereto which will or have been in whole or in part disclosed in writing to, published, merchandised, advertised, and/or licensed by Marvel, its affiliates or their predecessors and successors in interest and licensees (which by agreement inures to Marvel's benefit) or any of them (the "Property") and any copyrights, trademarks, statutory rights, common law, goodwill, moral rights and any other rights whatsoever in the Property in any and all manner and media and/or fields, including all rights to renewal or extensions of copyright or trademarks and to recover for past infringement and make application or institute suits therefor (the "Rights"). With respect to the Non-Exclusive Rights, the foregoing rights of Marvel shall extend solely to the uses heretofore utilized by Marvel; changes thereto may be made with your permission. Such prior uses may continue in perpetuity. Specifically excepted from above, you have represented that you have been receiving royalties on a number of publications to Marvel's knowledge directly from third-party publishers. Specifically excepted from the above is the right during your life to continue receiving such royalties unimpeded. You have also represented that Marvel has heretofore assigned to you the character(s) The Femizons. You may continue forever in perpetuity to so own and exploit the Femizons character(s) for your own benefit. Notwithstanding what is set forth herein, you may, for publicity, advertising, public relation, historical and any related purposes (but excluding any use coupled o commercial usage) refer to or hold yourself out as founder and/or creator of whatever characters and images you created or founded on behalf of Marvel, provided such uses do not confuse ownership or source of origin. Such image uses may not be story-related, must be substantially identical to prior Marvel uses and must give full attribution of trademark and copyright to Marvel and the use of he images must be substantially minor in context.

(b) You hereby warrant that you have not assigned, licensed, pledged or otherwise hypothecated, nor attempted to do so any of the Property and Rights to anyone other than Marvel, its affiliates, predecessors or their designees and will not do so in the future.

(c) Subject to a material breach of this agreement, you hereby agree to execute upon request. from Marvel any documents it deems reasonably necessary to effect the purposes of this assignment.

(d) Subject to a material breach of this agreement, you will never file with the U.S. Copyright Office or the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or any governmental or public agency throughout the world, and will never assert or assist on your behalf or cooperate with others in asserting on your behalf or in claiming rights through you, any claim to ownership (except to Non-Exclusive Rights, subject to Marvel's license) of the Rights in the Property, or in making any objection to Marvel's complete and unrestricted right to use and exploit said Property or Rights throughout the world in any form, manner or medium Marvel may desire now or hereafter known or devised.

(e) Subject to a material breach of this agreement, you agree not to contest either directly or indirectly the full and complete ownership by Marvel, its affiliates, designees, or successors in interest, of all right, title and interest in and to the Property and Rights or the validity of the Rights, which may be conferred on Marvel by this Agreement, or to assist others in so doing. Examples of such prohibited contestation would be, without limitation, applying for

copyright, renewal copyright, trademarks, service marks, patents, etc. for the Property and/or Rights herein specified or the publication by you or your assigns or agents of literary property which would infringe upon, violate or be confusingly similar to such Property and/or Rights.

(f) It is agreed that the failure to pay pursuant to Paragraphs 4(a)--4(c) hereof for any reason, after notice and a thirty (30) day cure period, shall be a material breach which shall permit you at your option to vitiate Paragraphs 5(a)--(5(e) (the Assignment) above and place the parties to the "Assignment" in the condition that existed between them just prior to the date of execution of this Agreement and nothing contained herein, including the existence of the conveyances contained herein, shall be used as evidence in any subsequent proceeding nor shall it prevent the parties from taking any position with respect to the ownership of the Property or the Rights. It is further agreed that as to all other breaches of this agreement, you shall be relegated exclusively to a suit for either specific performance or money damages or both, if appropriate, at your option.

(g) It is acknowledged and agreed that so long as the Company continues to make the payments required in paragraphs 4(a) - 4(c) and upon full payment of the amounts required by Paragraphs 4(a) - 4(c) none of the heirs, executors, estates, or other successors-in-interest of any of Stan Lee, Joan Lee, or Joan C. Lee shall be entitled to make any claim for payments under Paragraphs 4(a) - 4(c) and neither Joan Lee nor Joan C. Lee shall have the right to contest, challenge or otherwise dispute the grant of Rights in the Property (or Assignment) hereunder or the rights to the Non-Exclusive Rights.

6. This Agreement, including the assignment set forth herein, shall be binding upon the parties hereto, their affiliates and subsidiaries, legal representatives, successors and predecessors in interest, and assigns.

7. The invalidity of any provision or part hereof or obligation hereunder, or the contravention thereby of any law, rule or regulation of any State, the Federal Government or any agency, shall not relieve any party from its obligation under, nor deprive any party of the advantages of, any other provision or part of this Agreement.

8. Other Provisions. This Agreement will constitute the entire understanding between the parties in connection with Stan Lee's relationship with Marvel from the date hereof, shall supersede any and all previous agreements and may not be amended or modified except by a writing signed by the party to be charged. This agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, N.Y. jurisdiction. All notices to Marvel shall be given by you at the above address and all notices to you shall be given to you at , with a copy to Arthur M. Lieberman at 461 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10017, or to such substitute address as a party otherwise designates in writing.

9. Marvel and the Company agree to submit this agreement together with appropriate supporting papers to the court overseeing Marvel's bankruptcy prior to November 25th, 1998 and to obtain court's approval of this agreement prior to December 5th , 1998. Should the court fail to act on this agreement, it shall be binding between the parties. Should the court disapprove this agreement, then paragraph 5(f) shall control and place the parties in the condition that existed between them just prior to the date of execution of this agreement.

10. The Company agrees to pay your reasonable legal fees and expenses in connection with the negotiation of this agreement. Signed at Los Angeles, California this 17th day of November, 1998. /s/ Stan Lee ---------------------- Stan Lee

For good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which I hereby acknowledge, Joan Lee and Joan C. Lee hereby confirm their agreement to the foregoing insofar as it concerns the present or future contingent rights in the foregoing including, but not limited to any renewals or extensions to which they or either of them are entitled after the death of Stan Lee or Joan Lee.

http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/03/16/stan-lee-media-sues-marvel-for-5b/

Stan Lee Media Sues Marvel for $5B

A classic story of intrigue, double crosses, runaway financiers, campaign skullduggery, and Stan Lee got yet another chapter underway when it was announced that Stan Lee Media is suing Marvel for a cool $5B. The one-time new media venture claims that it co-owns Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Incredible Hulk.

How is this possible? You thought Stan Lee Media went down in flames in the first dot.bomb crash? And Stan Lee was long gone and moved on to POW! Entertainment? And renegade co-owner Peter Paul was busy planning to undermine Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid with stories of improprieties from her senate run?

While the colorful Paul is not involved in this chapter, it seems STAN LEE MEDIA has been resurrected by Jim Nesfield, a self described “Whistleblower” who has appeared on 60 Minutes to talk about mutual fund malfeasance and so on. And Nesfield is claiming that contracts Lee signed while still involved are still in effect.

He said Mr. Lee signed a contract in October 1998 that assigned co-creative interests to Stan Lee Media. Unfortunately for Stan Lee Media, the same rights were assigned to Marvel.

“Stan Lee is no longer with the company, but the contract remains intact,” he said. “He has signed it and the contract is still in force.” He added that Mr. Lee may be called to testify if the case goes to trial.

He said the contract had been hidden from the public and Mr. Nesfield has filed suit on behalf of the shareholders to assert their rights. He said they are entitled to 50 percent of all revenue going back three years and going forward 50 years. They can only go back three years by law, but not as far back as 1998.

Meanwhile, in its own statement on the suit Marvel reveals that Stan is himself suing Stan Lee Media.

Stan Lee Media was recently in bankruptcy and is being sued by Stan Lee. In his suit, Mr. Lee is challenging the legitimacy of the management of Stan Lee Media. Mr. Lee is a long-time employee of Marvel and its predecessor companies and currently serves as Publisher Emeritus of Marvel Comics. Mr. Lee commented that, “I do not support this action and believe the suit to be baseless.”

This entire story is so tangled that it would take weeks just to read the court documents. For some entertaining background, Dirk links to this entertaining Michael Dean news story that hints just how crazy and nutty Stan Lee Media’s business dealings really were.

This entry was posted on 03/16/07 at 11:45 am and is filed under Marvel, Legal Matters, Business News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “Stan Lee Media Sues Marvel for $5B”
Primate Says:

03/16/07 at 12:55 pm
I propose a new superhero team composed solely of characetrs with rights issues. Miracelman is leader, with Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Incredible Hulk as the core team. Superboy fills the role of the wide-eyed newcomer to the team, with the Batman role filled by Medievel Spawn. Their headquarters would be styled like one of those legal file document boxes. The title of the book would be THE RED TAPERS or THE LITIGATIONS or some such.

Sphinx Magoo Says:

03/16/07 at 1:33 pm
My brain… it hurts…

cary coatney Says:

03/16/07 at 2:27 pm
This is so…schizophrenic.

~

Coat

angrytrousers Says:

03/17/07 at 2:14 pm
If you want another example of why you should never name a company after yourself, see Paul Frank Industries:
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/money/homepage/article_1057559.php

Love Uncle Sean Says:

03/17/07 at 3:22 pm
This reminds me of Doc Holliday’s last words in the movie Tombstone:…

“This is funny”
So, Stan Lee Media has filed a lawsuit against Marvel Comics for about $5 Billion dollars. Now, here’s the thing that had me confused at first: “Why would Stan Lee sue Marvel, if he wanted to settle that sort of …

James Says:

03/17/07 at 5:36 pm
The interesting thing here is that they are suing *after* going through bankruptcy. So a judge let a possible $5 billion dollar asset slip through bankruptcy untouched? Hmmm…

dougfromupland Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

03/17/07 at 7:54 pm
Some of you might find this interesting. Here is the contract signed by Stan on Oct. 15, 1998 and the contract then signed with Marvel on Nov. 1, 1998.

OCT. 15, 1998 CONTRACT between Lee and Stan Lee Media: http://www.secinfo.com/dsVsb.5Dg.1z.htm

NOV. 1, 1998 CONTRACT between Lee and Marvel: http://contracts.onecle.com/marvel/lee.emp.1998.11.01.shtml

Here is the warranty Stan made to Marvel:

5
(b) You hereby warrant that you have not assigned, licensed, pledged or
otherwise hypothecated, nor attempted to do so any of the Property and
Rights to anyone other than Marvel, its affiliates, predecessors or
their designees and will not do so in the future.

dougfromupland Says:

03/17/07 at 8:05 pm
JAMES: the BK was amazing. Stan pulled out certain properties with court approval subject to him forming a new company called SLC LLC and developing the properties for the benefit of shareholders. That company was never formed. What is even more interesting is that some of those properties were transferred to POW! Entertainment. How was that possible with the BK court not being involved? What happened to the secured lien on those properties? During the final motions before dismissal, the counsel for the debtor in possession actually made a motion TO DESTROY CORPORATE RECORDS! Is someone trying to hide something?

You are going to find something interesting from this case and the civil case of Paul v Clinton coming to Los Angeles Superior Court this year. Paul spent over $1.6 mil on Hillary’s campaign with the promise that Bill would come aboard as a rainmaker for one year after he left the White House. He was going to be paid $15 mil in stock and cash. Behind the scenes, Clinton’s business partner Jim Levin use proprietary information to steal SLM’s Japanese investor Tendo Oto for himself and Clinton. Oto had already given SLM $5 mil in August 2000 for the Japanese joint venture. He promised another $5-7 mil for VentureSoft in the U.S. Six days after Hillary was elected, Levin had recorded with the Sec. of State in Illinois his agreement with Oto (and silent partner Bill). When Oto’s money did not come in November as promised, the cash crunch killed the company. Had Oto done what he had promised, the company would have had plenty of money to survive until Clinton came aboard. Clinton would have raised a huge sum of money and this company would have been a goldmine. See the video explaining what the Clintons did — http://youtube.com/watch?v=LUWlxc7h5AI

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6464095.stm

Dispute over Spider-Man ownership

An internet publishing firm is taking legal action against comic book company Marvel, claiming part-ownership of superheroes such as Spider-Man.
Associated Press reported the case was filed in New York last week by Stan Lee Media, a company originally co-founded by Spider-Man creator Stan Lee.

Now under new ownership, the firm claims Lee signed away rights to his famous comic book creations in 1998.

Marvel deemed the legal action "without merit", while Lee called it "baseless".

"I do not support this action and believe the suit to be baseless," said a statement released on behalf of the 84-year-old Lee by Marvel.

Lee's comic book characters include the X-Men, the Incredible Hulk and the Fantastic Four.

Bankruptcy

Stan Lee Media, which has re-emerged from bankruptcy six years ago, claims Lee signed away his rights to the comic book characters in 1998 when the company launched, in exchange for a salary and company stock.

It claims the agreement entitles Stan Lee Media to a 50% cut of the profits made by Marvel from licensing comic book characters to the film industry.

The second sequel in the Spider-Man series opens in May

Earlier this year, Lee took legal action challenging the legitimacy of Stan Lee's Media current management, calling them "rogue opportunists".

Lee founded Stan Lee Media with Miami businessman Peter F Paul in 1998, in a bid to bring some of his comic book creations to the web.

Despite early success on the stock market, the company crashed losing millions in investment, and prompting the firm to file for bankruptcy in 2001.

In 2005, Mr Paul pleaded guilty to improperly manipulating the company's stock price. Lee was never implicated in the scandal.

After his own legal battle with Marvel in 2005, which saw a judge uphold Lee's demand for 10% of Marvel's profits from the Spider-Man films, Lee is currently Publisher Emeritus at Marvel.

Blockbuster sequel Spider-Man 3, starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, is released in May this year.

Rogue opportunists? The counsel for debtor in possession made a motion in court TO DESTROY CORPORATE RECORDS because they claimed to not have the money to keep them in storage. They were given a substantial offer early in 2006 for the remaining assets of the company. Those in charge would not allow an inspection of the remaining property in the storage unit. Stan was given notice to attend the stockholders meeting. He chose not to attend.

This is funny. I had not seen it before.

Stan vs. 'Striperella'
Excerpted from The Comics Journal #255
By Michael Dean
Posted October 3rd, 2003
A July 9 lawsuit filed by Janet Clover against Viacom TV Networks, Pamela Anderson and Stan Lee over intellectual property allegedly stolen from Clover while she was dancing in Lee's lap is being retooled. Though the original suit was withdrawn Aug. 15, she said she plans to re-file, this time with the help of attorneys -- and direct the suit specifically at Lee. "I'm actually going after Stan Lee," she told the Journal.

Clover had filed the suit in Volusia County, Fla., Circuit Court to stop the cablecast of an animated series about a stripper/superheroine called Stripperella on the Viacom-owned TNN/Spike. Clover's suit asserted that, even though the look of Stripperella is based on Clover's appearance and the title and concept for the series is taken from her stage name and role as an advocate for "sensual dancers," she has received no credit or compensation. In the course of a private dance at the Tanga Lounge in Tampa, Clover had described to Lee her double life as a nurse and a stripper and her efforts to better the lives of strippers under the name Stripperella, she told the Journal.

A couple of months after that, she said, Lee's plans for the cable cartoon were announced. The show features a Pamela-Anderson-voiced stripper who fights crime in her off hours with the help of glass-cutting nipples, a lie-detecting bosom and a digitally scanning tongue.

Representatives of Viacom, Stan Lee and Pamela Anderson have made no public comment on the matter. Before attorneys for the defendants could even move to have the suit dismissed, Clover moved to dismiss her own suit.

Clover filed the original suit herself without a lawyer. "I had an attorney," she told the Journal, "but she wanted $6,000 to file the suit -- just to get started. There's no way I can afford that."

The suit was filed in the name of the Office of the Professional Nurse Advocate -- Moral and Ethical Division, but that impressive-sounding office was not in a position to provide Clover with legal assistance. In fact, it exists only in Clover's head, as a proposal for an international organization for setting standards of practice in the nursing profession. The proposal, she said, is still being considered by the "Office of the High Commission" in Switzerland. In response to questions from the Journal, she admitted that she had filed the suit under that name because she felt it would sound more respectable and serious than a suit filed by a semi-retired stripper. "As soon as you say you're a dancer, all these prejudices come in," she said.

Of legal necessity, however, the suit also listed Clover as a complainant -- aka Jazz in Daytona, Jacksonville and Cocoa Beach gentlemen's clubs, aka Jaz in Tampa Bay clubs, aka JC in Miami and Holy Hill, aka Stripperella.

It was her stripper status and Pamela Anderson's name that caught the attention of the local press. A small story in the Daytona Beach News-Journal was picked up by Associated Press and the national media and made its way to People and Entertainment Weekly. Those stories in turn caught the attention of attorneys throughout the country. "The attorneys in New York are very cool," Clover said. "Quite a few have contacted me about it."

One of the cool things about these attorneys is that they are willing to work on a contingency basis. When the Journal spoke with her, Clover was trying to decide between a plethora of options. She had not yet chosen which attorneys would officially represent her and was vacillating between filing her new suit in Florida (convenient for Clover and her witnesses) or in New York (convenient for her prospective attorneys). All the lawyers agree there's a lawsuit in Clover's complaint, but they're undecided about the nature of the suit. Clover's original suit accused the defendants of appropriating Clover's stage name and likeness and asked for nothing more specific than an injunction against the cable show, something of a moot point since the show has now begun airing. The new suit may be a trademark- or copyright-infringement complaint or it may be a class-action suit on behalf of the nation's exotic dancers. In either case, it would need to be filed in a federal court rather than in the local circuit court, where the aborted suit had been filed.

In her complaint, Clover protested in distinctly unlawyerlike language the damage she anticipated the Stripperella show would do to the public image of sensual entertainers: "When they turn on their television to watch an animated gyrating pelvis hidden in a man's face, acceptance of professional dancers as healthy sensual entertainers will not happen." Clover had not actually seen the show at the time she composed her suit, however. She saw the show for the first time the night before she spoke with the Journal, and was pleasantly surprised. "I didn't have a problem with the cartoon," she said. "I thought it was actually kind of cute."

One bit she did have a problem with was a scene in which Kid Rock tells a Stripperella lookalike in the audience that there's only one Stripperella. Clover took that to be a slam at her and her suit. She also objected to a Spin magazine appearance by Anderson as Stripperella in which the faux stripper dispensed advice to troubled exotic dancers.

What most bothers her, Clover said, is that Lee has failed to give credit where credit is due for the origins of his Stripperella concept.

It was Clover's fellow dancers, she said, who first noticed that a past visitor to the club was being interviewed on the Internet and talking about a stripper superheroine. "They were like, 'Oh my God, you have to check this out,'" Clover told the Journal. "They showed me a picture and said, 'Dude, he was here!'"

Though, she said, "he looked different," she quickly recognized her stage name and her life in his planned TV project and remembered talking at length with Lee two months earlier about her Stripperella alter ego. Angered that Lee had failed to identify the source of "his" idea, she said, she immediately went about trying to contact him: "I tried getting a hold of him, but he's hiding from me. I got no response. If I just had five minutes alone with him..."

The Journal interrupted to say it understood that she had had five minutes alone with him.

"It was more than five minutes, if you want to know the truth," she said. "I'll tell you something. If you have time alone with someone like that -- it doesn't matter what they do for a living or what they look like -- you either find someone you can enjoy talking to and spending time with or you don't. With him, I'll just say I would have forgotten all about him, except the customers and the dancers started bringing in these articles."

Later, though, when the Journal commented that Lee couldn't have been that dull a companion if she had talked with him at such length, she said, "Oh yes, he was a fascinating man or I would never have spent that much time with him. It makes everything more personal, more real, if you get to know the person you're dancing for. But I remembered him coming in moreso because of the $80 he ended up owing me. He didn't pay for the dance the second time."

"He came twice... ?" the Journal started to ask.

"Be careful how you say that," Clover interrupted. "I met him at the club two different times."

Asked how much time passed between the two times she saw Lee, she said, both visits had been within a two-week period. "He described himself as an artist and I think he had two or three people with him," she told the Journal.

"Don't the dancers get paid up front?" the Journal asked.

"We're supposed to," she said, following her answer with a dramatic sigh.

[To read the rest of this article, please see The Comics Journal #255.]

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