Web spin claims Marvel comic book profits

An internet company that was once affiliated with legendary comic-book creator Stan Lee is suing Marvel Entertainment for part ownership of characters including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Incredible Hulk and the Fantastic Four.

Stan Lee Media filed the suit late this week claiming that it is entitled to 50 per cent of the profits Marvel makes off certain comic characters.

"I do not support this action and believe the suit to be baseless," said the 84-year-old Lee in a statement he issued through Marvel, which calls the suit "without merit."

Lee founded the company in 1998 with Miami businessman Peter F. Paul. It was a dot-com success, with its publicly traded stock soaring during the 1999 to 2000 internet boom.

It then crashed and 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.

Now that Stan Lee Media has emerged from bankruptcy under new owners, it is seeking to recover what it calls its ownership rights. It claims the comic creator signed away the rights to his creations back in 1998 in exchange for salary and company stock, valued at about $100 million US.

Meanwhile, Lee filed a lawsuit against Stan Lee Media in January challenging the legitimacy of its new management. At the time, he called them "rogue opportunists" seeking to capitalize on his work.

Lee hasn't always had a smooth relationship with Marvel either. He sued the company in 2005 for 10 per cent of its profits from the Spider-Man films.Lee won and has since becomepublisher emeritus at Marvel.