The Hollywood Reporter said the latest court papers filed by Disney is demanding a Pennsylvania judge to reject current and future claims of Stan Lee's company over the rights of "Spider-Man" and other Marvel Comics characters.
Referring to Stan Lee Media Inc, part of the court papers read, "The time has come for this Court to end once and for all SLMI's vexatious and repeatedly-rejected claims of ownership over the Marvel Characters."
Disney's lawsuit filed in an Pennsylvania court claimed that they have two solid reasons why SLMI's claims over the Marvel characters should be dismissed. For one, Disney believed that the claims made by Stan Lee's company are time-barred, which means that based on an appelate court ruling, SLMI's subsidiary no longer has the rights to the comic book characters despite the fact that it has been using them for over 50 years. Second, Disney claimed that SLMI no longer has the capacity to license as it has been dissolved administratively, and cited for good measure a Colorado state law barring shuttered businesses to operate unless it is for the winding and liquidation of the business.
Stan Lee Media Inc has been going to court to insist that it had retained the rights over several Marvel Comics characters namely "Fantastic Four," "X-Men" and "Spider-Man", THR said. THR said in a report that Lee had lost its already lucrative rights to the comic book characters when his company declared bankruptcy sometime in the early 2000s, of which several of SLMI"s assets were raided. Shareholders of SLMI reportedly pursued the rights to the comic book heroes back in several court litigations, but had failed unsuccessfully. Lee has since returned to Marvel after his company folded.
The latest saga over the rights to the comic book heroes was a lawsuit filed by Disney in September of last year, THR said. Disney claimed a theater production titled "Broadway: Now & Forever" has scenes involving a musical focused on "Spider-Man." American Music Theatre, who was the defendant in the lawsuit, entered into a licensing agreement with SLMI after Disney's Lawsuit. SLMI in turn filed an intervenor complaint on behalf of AMT to go against Disney.
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