Stan Lee Media, which is no longer associated with Marvel legend Stan Lee, has lost its copyright claim against the Walt Disney Company. According to the AP, “…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.”
Disney argued that there was no conceivable way Stan Lee Media could state a viable copyright claim. The three judge panel agreed stating that Stan Lee Media could not even allege any right to ownership of the disputed properties.