Stan Lee Entertainment Files Lawsuit Against Founder's Daughter
The entertainment company, which was established by renowned comic-book writer and publisher, Stan Lee, is currently in a legal clash with Joan Celia Lee, Stan's daughter.
Stan Lee Entertainment (SLE) reportedly filed a lawsuit against J.C. Lee in her attempt to exploit her father's legacy outside her legal rights as the only heir.
According to SLE's documents, the company was instituted in 1998 and was originally founded with the rights to Stan Lee's name, stories, ideas -- basically everything.
It also explained that everything that the comic-book writer made when he was still alive will all be solely owned by SLE; however, Joan obviously failed to protect the entertainment's intellectual property, most especially from POW! Entertainment.
POW! Entertainment is another media production company formed by Stan Lee together with Gill Champion and Arthur Lieberman in 2001. Before Stan Lee passed away on November 2018, he filed a $1 billion lawsuit against POW! for stealing his ideas and intellectual property.
Following this news, J.C. Lee wanted to cut ties with POW! two months ago. She demanded a full revision of her father's intellectual property from POW!, which also include annulling the agreements between the two.
A spokesperson from POW! clarified that both sides have quarreled over the same issue for the past two decades, but the court always approved POW!'s side. According to the previous court releases, they elucidated that they are the legitimate and solitary owner of all Stan Lee's Iintellectual property.
They also mentioned that the Marvel Comics creator left instructions that his daughter does not have any control or claim over any intellectual property of Stan Lee, and POW! will be the one to continue the late publisher's legacy.
All these led to SLE pushing a lawsuit now. Both POW! and J.C. Lee were accountable for all the loses, with J.C. Lee failing to uphold her duty in protecting the rights of her father.
In addition to the case, SLE is currently demanding the court to compel the heiress, as the remaining signatory, in defending SLE against POW! and other institutions who are trying to acquire Stan Lee's creation. The entertainment company is also trying to make Stan Lee's daughter stand and declare that they have the sole responsibility and ownership of the intellectual properties, as mentioned in the original documents.
J.C. Lee is yet to respond to the statement released by Stan Lee Entertainment. However, the company is continuously fighting for their rights to continue Stan's legacy.
Stan Lee had numerous lawsuits in the past. In fact, back in 2011, he came into a legal dispute with SLE for the rights to some of the most iconic and valuable Marvel superheroes such as Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man and Thor.
Recently, her daughter called the attention of Disney for not showing respect or decency to her father and supported Sony in the now-resolved issue over the "Spider-Man" franchise.
