Stan The Man Shakes Hands With Wolverine
The long standing litigation between Marvel Comics and Stan Lee has now been concluded to the satisfaction of both parties after going to arbitration.
The news was delivered in this company press release:
Marvel Enterprises, Inc. announced today that it has settled all pending litigation with Stan Lee. The settlement agreement covers the lawsuit filed by Mr. Lee in November 2002 in which Mr. Lee claimed entitlement, under an agreement with Marvel, to a participation in Marvel’s profits from various sources, including the Spider-Man movies and other film and television productions that utilize Marvel characters. The settlement covers Mr. Lee’s participation claim for both past and any potential future payments. Specific terms of the settlement agreement were not disclosed.
John Turitzin, Marvel’s General Counsel, said, “Stan is one of the founders of today’s comic book industry. We are pleased with the settlement and are happy to have resolved all of our disputes with him.”
After the phenomenal worldwide success of the Spider-Man movie, Lee believed that he was entitled to a significant payout. Marvel disagreed and Stan said that he would immediately instruct his lawyers to seek redress.
It was in January this year that Lee won the first round of those judicial proceedings and Marvel immediately announced that they would be immediately appealing the verdict.
Lee then did what he does best and embarked on a tour of the various media outlets eloquently stating his case for compensation: most notably appearing not once but twice on the CBS flagship news show 60 Minutes
Despite their publicly stated hard line of taking the case to a higher court it now appears that Marvel were affected by this public onslaught and quietly opened arbitration talks with Lees representatives with a serious view to settle.
The terms of the agreement are confidential but Marvel Enterprises Incorporated first quarter report had the following statement:
Includes the impact of a $10 million, one-time charge related to the settlement of litigation with Stan Lee.
PANELOLOGISTS OPINION: This might seem a small sum compared to what Lee may have eventually won but a bird in the hand and all that.
He was born in 1922 and although seems to have limitless energy, it must be remembered that he is in fact an elderly man. To take this deal was smart.
I have been a science fiction, comic book and animation fan for a very long time. I honestly believe that comics are an extremely vital and exciting art form whose true worth is only now beginning to be recognised in the mainstream media and this appreciation can only continue to grow in the future. I regularly write science fiction short stories and send them off to the magazines. So far their response has not exactly allowed me to give up my day job but I plan to keep plugging away at it..
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