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    Company loses bid for rights to Marvel superheroes

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments608 Views
    In this Nov. 11, 2004 file photo, a man looks at an advertisement for the "Spider-Man" movie in Copenhagen, Denmark. (AP Photo/John McConnico, File)

    By Sadie Gurman

    DENVER (AP) --

    A Colorado company lost its latest fight against Disney over the rights to Marvel's iconic comic book characters Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled it could not claim ownership to certain superheroes such as Spider-Man and Iron Man.

    In its decision, a panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge's dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Stan Lee Media, which sought profits from the $5.5 billion the company says Disney made from movies and merchandise featuring Marvel's superheros.

    Disney bought Marvel in 2009.

    Stan Lee Media no longer is affiliated with comic book writer Stan Lee. But the company argued it had the rights to at least some of the characters under a 1998 agreement. Lee later sent Stan Lee Media a letter terminating the agreement because the company had breached the deal. He gave the same rights to Marvel, spawning the series of courtroom battles. Stan Lee Media has sued Marvel and others over the characters' copyrights in at least six cases, all of which have been dismissed, according to court documents.

    In oral arguments in October, Disney argued there was no conceivable way the company could state a viable copyright claim.

    The appeals court panel agreed, saying the copyright issue was already settled by another federal appeals court, which ruled Stan Lee Media failed to plausibly make its case.

    "In other words, Stan Lee Media could not even allege any right to ownership of the disputed properties," the 10th Circuit judges wrote in their decision.

    An attorney representing Stan Lee Media did not immediately return a call for comment.

    Tags:DisneyMarvelStan Lee Media



    Football Practice Preps Nikki Glaser For Hosting The Golden Globes

    Thursday, December 26, 2024
    Nikki Glaser stands on the field after NFL football game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Denver Broncos, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

    What do Tom Brady, Taylor Swift and comedy have to do with learning about football?

    In the case of Nikki Glaser, it is all intertwined.

    Glaser has become a familiar face to football fans this season. Her breakthrough performance at the Tom Brady Roast on May 5 paved the way for five appearances on Amazon Prime Video's "Thursday Night Football" postgame show.

    Before last Thursday's game between the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers, Glaser said doing her "Late Hits" segment was a no-brainer following her success at the Brady roast.

    "The football audience is kind of familiar with me already. It's one that is OK with me not knowing every detail about football or expecting me to be an expert about it because I was who I was on the Brady Roast. I kind of admitted to not really following football that much," Glaser said. "And I became a fan of Tom Brady and the sport in doing it through that process. So then I was like, 'Let me just keep learning about football through joking about it.' And that was kind of my goal."

    Glaser admits her knowledge of football is not all the way there yet. Still, it is further ahead than it was a year ago when she started casually watching Chiefs games due to Swift's relationship with Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce.

    And mostly then, it was to see when Swift appeared on screen.

    However, Glaser decided to start learning more about the game, which she compared to trying to learn a new language.

    "I went my whole life putting on blinders because I was just scared to look stupid if I tried to learn. I always thought football fans would be really judgmental and cruel about my lack of knowledge. But they're not," Glaser said. "They're eager for you to understand and... Read More

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