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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!"

8 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

  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
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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,
  7. 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?"

  8. 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!