Lawsuit against Stan Lee, Marvel dismissed

Last Updated: Monday, April 5, 2010 | 1:03 PM ET

CBC News

Stan Lee, pictured here in an undated photo, Lee transferred rights in 1998 to characters such as Spider-Man, X-Men, The Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk to Marvel Entertainment Inc. (Canadian Press)

A $750-million US lawsuit that claimed profits from such popular comics characters as Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four has been dismissed by a federal judge in New York City.

The lawsuit was filed in January 2009 on behalf of shareholders of Stan Lee Media against Marvel Entertainment Inc. and Lee, the creator of many well-known comics.

It alleges that shareholders were harmed when Lee transferred rights in 1998 to characters such as Spider-Man, X-Men, the Fantastic Four and the Incredible Hulk to Marvel, which is owned by Walt Disney Co.

Stan Lee Media was founded by Lee and Miami businessman Peter F. Paul in 1998. Its publicly traded stock soared during the 1999 to 2000 internet boom.

When that crashed, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Paul pleaded guilty four years later to improperly manipulating the company's stock price. Lee was never implicated.

In 2007, Stan Lee Media emerged from bankruptcy under new owners.

In his ruling last week, U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty said the shareholders, Jose Abadin and Christopher Belland, lacked standing to sue because they didn't buy their shares of Stan Lee Media until 1999 — after Lee made a deal with Marvel.

He also said they waited too long to launch their suit.

The shareholder suit is separate from one filed in 2007 by the new owners of Stan Lee Media, who are seeking to recover what they say are ownership rights to many famous characters.

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