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Stan Lee Sues Marvel Comics

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the profit-always-an-ephemeral-concept dept.

night_flyer writes "In a story that demonstrates the way the entertainment industry manipulates its artists, Marvel is claiming that the 400 Million dollar blockbuster movie Spiderman produced no profits, and they are trying to weasel out of their contract that gives Stan Lee 10% of the profits from his creations. Nuff Said!"

22 of 415 comments (clear)

  1. And in other news by youngerpants · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pop stars are getting ripped off, developers are getting ripped off, fishermen are getting ripped off, the fire department are getting ripped off, etc, etc, etc

    Dont mean to sound despotic, but Stan, join the queue

    1. Re:And in other news by c13v3rm0nk3y · · Score: 3, Funny
      isn't /. holding up its end of the bargin and providing plenty of interesting reading material between the "idle" times at the office?

      <HOMER>Look at me! I'm surfing the net! And getting PAID. Woo-hoo!</HOMER>

      If I do just a little more "research" for only one more hour, I can go for lunch!

      --
      -- clvrmnky
  2. Why should Stan Lee get anything? by JSC · · Score: 5, Funny

    After all, he didn't do anything important re: Spiderman. All he did was develop the idea in print, nurse it along for years, pour his sweat and blood into it, bring respectability to a substandard art, etc.

    The studio did the hard part. They hired the lawyer to screw Stan! If that isn't worth the 10% I don't know what is.

    --
    Time's fun when you're having flies. - Kermit the Frog
    1. Re:Why should Stan Lee get anything? by jonr · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, he only drawed the thing. I mean, I could do that! Corporations have rights, too you know. Anybody can dabble wit pencils and paper, but it takes real work to create all those special effects...
      J:

  3. Time for the hulk! by colonelteddy · · Score: 2, Funny

    ME LOSE MONEY??
    that makes me angry, You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

    --
    c - a blessed +5 grain of salt
  4. Typical Spidey Plotline by LittleGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Huge Economic Success due to Spiderman, but Peter Parker can't benefit because:

    * Check written in Spiderman's Name
    * False agency
    * Peter's sense of morality (and flashbacks of Uncle Ben) prevents him from accepting check.
    * Etc etc.

    --
    Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
  5. The old adage by TrollBurger · · Score: 1, Funny

    Publishers will never pay you enough to successfully sue them

    applies here I think :)

  6. The Same Old Villain Strikes Again! by Steve+B · · Score: 5, Funny
    Marvel is claiming that the 400 Million dollar blockbuster movie Spiderman produced no profits

    The "piracy" problem must be even worse than they're admitting....

    --
    /. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
  7. By Marvel's reasoning... by nmnilsson · · Score: 2, Funny

    Stan should be happy that they didn't lose money on the movie, or he'd have ended up owing them money...

    --
    No sig to see here. Move along.
  8. Re:This is why you never deal in profits by ComaVN · · Score: 5, Funny

    That should be:

    - Make blockbuster movie
    - ????
    - No Profit!
    - Profit!!!!

    --
    Be wary of any facts that confirm your opinion.
  9. but... by thoolihan · · Score: 2, Funny

    are trying to weasel out of their contract

    Weasiling your way out of things it what separates man from animals. Except the weasel.

    -Homer J. Simpson

    --
    http://unmoldable.com W:"No one of consequence" I:"I must know" W:"Get used to disappointment"
  10. Visions... by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    Peering into my crystal ball...

    StanLee: You owe me $40 million.
    Marvel:Well, we calculated that 30 million copies of Spiderman were downloaded via peer-to-peer programs...
    StanLee:..and..?
    Marvel: ..at $20 per DVD that would have been bought, we lost $600 million. So with the $400 million we earned on the movie release we have a net loss of $200 million. You owe us 10%, or $20 million.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  11. Re:Stan Lee is lucky he has a way to talk about th by gorgon · · Score: 2, Funny

    You've got the quote all wrong. Here's the correct quote from our esteemed President:
    "There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on--shame on you. Fool me--you can't get fooled again." - Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002

    --

    And I'd be a Libertarian, if they weren't all a bunch of tax-dodging professional whiners.
    Berke Breathed
  12. Forget Batman vs. Superman.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Stan Lee vs. Marvel!

  13. Re:No Profits by damien_kane · · Score: 5, Funny

    Qouth Kevin Smith:

    "Oh I disagree...
    We had a contract, for likeness rights; remember?
    As we are not only the character basis but obviously the artistic basis for your intellectual property, when said property was optioned to Miramax you were legally obligated to secure our permission to transfer the comic book to another medium.

    Since you failed to do that, Banky, you find yourself in a very actionable position..."

    In this case, all Stan is saying is: "Where's my mothefsckin' movie check?"

  14. Re:I completly agree by The+Grassy+Knoll · · Score: 2, Funny

    So was Gross Points Blank a film about a rookie writer who had to accept Net Points only??

    I thank you... I'm here all week...

    .

    --
    They will never know the simple pleasure of a monkey knife fight
  15. Marvel's been playing too much Hitch-Hikers... by docbrown42 · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...Guide to the Galaxy (original text game). I mean, how else can they claim to have "no-profit" and "profit" at the same time?

    Tune in next week, when Spidey battles the Ravenous Bug-Bladder Beast of Thrall!

    --
    Ed Wedig
    Graphic design services
    docbrown.net
  16. Re:Could be a good thing by captaincucumber · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's too bad there's no Mod option "Dumbass" because that's what the parent thread here deserves.

    Seriously, Stan Lee made a contract goof - or, more accurately his lawyer/negotiator/agent did. We don't need more laws and regulations to "correct" (such laws and regulations always over-correct) the situation, we need artists to be less stupid. Rather than being outraged, the public should learn from Stan Lee's mistake.

  17. Re:No Profits by Malcontent · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Relative to the value of a dollar, gasoline is cheaper in the USA now than it has been anywhere in the world, *ever*."

    Well somehow I doubt the gasoline in the US is cheaper then in Quatar or Abu Dhabi.

    Also remember that all the oil in the world actually belongs to us. We may let other countries sit on top of our oil reserves but we reserve the right to kill them anytime we want if they mess with our oil supply.

    --

    War is necrophilia.

  18. I'm glad... by Eric+Damron · · Score: 5, Funny

    that the entertainment industry makes no profits from movies... If they did, they could afford to go to Washington and lobby for digital copy protection laws that would threaten our fair use rights...

    Whew... What a relief!

    --
    The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
  19. Re:This is why you never deal in profits by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Funny

    How about:

    1. Profit!!!
    2. Hide Profit
    3. Profit More!!!

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  20. Re:/.ed already by Daetrin · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wow, it's amazing how much shorter the article looks when it isn't in MSNBC's super-tiny-narrow-column format.

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    This Space Intentionally Left Blank