User blog:ARTaylor/Stan Lee Beats Stan Lee Media Inc.

The ongoing battle between comic book legend Stan Lee and Stan Lee Media Inc. has resulted in another defeat for the company this time in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. SLMI still argues that they were given the rights to characters including Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the Fantastic Four. However, a panel of appellate judges wrote, "The record demonstrates that, between the date the [1998] agreement was signed and the filing of related litigation in 2007, SLMI never announced that it owned rights to these characters (even when publicly disclosing company information pursuant to a securities offering), licensed the characters, produced content related to the characters, or asserted or attempted to enforce its ownership rights. Meanwhile, others were openly producing content and generating revenues from the characters. Given the significant value of these franchises, SLMI’s failure to publicize, protect, or exploit its right to profit from the characters establishes that these claims are simply implausible."

This won't be the end of the battle between Lee and his namesake. SLMI has several pending appeals in the 10th Circuit challenging a previously dismissed copyright infringement claim against The Walt Disney Company. They also have a case in Pennsylvania where the company intervened in a lawsuit regarding a musical production.