1UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTSOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK----------------------------------------XSTAN LEE,Plaintiff,02 Civ. 8945 (RWS)- against -O P I N I O NMARVEL ENTERPRISES, INC. andMARVEL CHARACTERS, INC.,Defendants.----------------------------------------XA P P E A R A N C E S:DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO MORIN & OSHINSKYAttorneys for Plaintiff1177 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, NY 10036By:HOWARD GRAFF, ESQ.JUDITH R. COHEN, ESQ.BURT GARSON, ESQ.OfCounselPAUL, HASTINGS, JANOFSKY & WALKERAttorneys for Defendants75 East 55th StreetNew York, NY 10022By:DAVID FLEISCHER, ESQ.JODI A. KLEINICK, ESQ.JOHN M. MAGLIERY, ESQ.Of Counsel
2
Sweet, D.J.,
The defendant Marvel Enterprises, Inc. ("Marvel") hasmoved for partial summary judgment in accordance with Rule 56(a),Fed. R. Civ. P., dismissing the claims in the complaint seeking aprofit participation from licensing of its characters formerchandising. The plaintiff Stan Lee ("Lee") has cross-movedfor partial summary judgment declaring that he is entitled to 10%participation in profits derived by Marvel from television ormovie productions, not limited by so-called "HollywoodAccounting," including film/television merchandising when theprofits do not result from a fee for licensing. For the reasonsset forth below, Marvel's motion is denied, and Lee’s cross-motion is granted in part and denied in part.As of the time these motions were filed, Leecontinued to serve as Marvel’s chairman emeritus. As discussedbelow, Lee has contributed significantly to Marvel's growth sincehis initial employment in 1940. Initially, Marvel’s predominantbusiness was publishing comic books, many of which featuredcharacters created by Lee -- e.g.Spider-Man, the IncredibleHulk, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. Marvel has subsequentlyexpanded the use of its characters into movies, television, andmerchandising. Lee had a contract with Marvel that permitted himto share in certain of these endeavors. Marvel then suffered thevicissitudes of a control contest and bankruptcy. When it
1
One commentator has provided the following description ofthe typical provisions of a "Hollywood accounting" deal:3emerged from bankruptcy with new leadership, it entered into anew contract with Lee (the "Agreement"). It is paragraph 4(f) ofthe Agreement, executed on November 17, 1998, that is the centralfocus of the present action. Paragraph 4(f) states:[Lee] shall be paid a participation equal to 10% of theprofits derived during [his] life by Marvel (includingsubsidiaries and affiliates) from the profits of anylive action or animation television or movie (includingancillary rights) productions utilizing MarvelCharacters. This participation is not to be derivedfrom the fee charged by Marvel for the licensing of theproduct or of the characters for merchandise orotherwise....(Cohen Aff. Ex. 1 at 5.) This deceptively simple language,drafted by a company and an executive both skilled andexperienced in the industry, has given rise to a multimilliondollar controversy because of changes in the way Marvel hasconducted business since the execution of the Agreement inNovember, 1998.According to Marvel, paragraph 4(f) entitles Lee to 10%participation in only those television and motion pictureproduction deals where Marvel has been afforded rights of netprofit participation. (Such net profit participationarrangements are commonly referred to as "Hollywood Accounting"deals.
1
) Lee argues that paragraph 4(f) entitles him to 10% of
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
Recommended
More From This User
Notes
Load more
