Back in 1998, comic book legendStan Leeformed a startup company entitledStan LeeMedia, to manage a growing list of new characters that were being created. Shortly thereafter,Stan Leehimself cut ties with the company, before it went bankrupt in 2000. While that would normally be the end for a company like this, the defunctStan LeeMedia went ahead and sued Disney several times, starting in 2007, claiming they owned the rights to superhero characters created byStan Lee, such asSpider-Man. Disney won every time, but now, according toPirated Thoughts, the studio is now suing SLM, over nearly a half million dollars in unpaid legal fees.
Stan LeeMedia never claimed that they owned the rights to several characters until the bankrupt company started filing lawsuits against Disney in 2007, at least six of them. The lawsuits claimed thatStan Leetransferred the rights to beloved characters likeSpider-Man,The Avengers,Hulk,X-Menand Thor, over to the company, but each time a lawsuit was filed by SLM, it was thrown out of court, and Disney was awarded $462,000, to cover its court costs and legal fees in defending these lawsuits. SinceStan LeeMedia went bankrupt, Disney then went after the company funding these lawsuits to cover the legal fees they’re owed.
The lawsuits were funded by a company known as TAP-SLMI, LLC, which apparently has no other function other than to fund these lawsuits. Disney went after this company, which was opposed byStan LeeMedia, but the court ruled that the company funding litigation can be held responsible for paying the court costs and legal fees. The judge ordered TAP-SLMI to produce documents in court, but TAP claimed its principle, a person known only as Mr. Wolk, was sick and unable to produce the documents or appear in court, but here’s where it gets really interesting.
Disney claims that, according to their records, the bank accounts provided for TAP had over $240,000 as of November 2014, but now they contain just $2,000. Records show that some of the money went to pay SLM’s attorney fees, but most of it went straight to the mysterious Mr. Wolk. Disney tried to subpoena Mr. Wolk’s personal bank records, but this individual again claimed to be sick, and the documents have still never been produced.
Disney said they would update the court about the status of these documents in March. The case has come up again because ofStan LeeMedia co-founderPeter F. Paul’s connections toHillary Rodham Clinton, who is now one of the front-runners in the Presidential race.Paulwas a major backer ofHillary Rodham Clinton, and he once even tried to get her husband, former PresidentBill Clinton, to sit on SLM’s board of directors. It still remains unclear whether or not this case will be resolved anytime soon, but stay tuned for more updates.
