Stan Lee sues to reclaim Conan rights

Here’s the news: Stan Lee is suing the producers of the new Conan the Barbarian movie alleging that he bought the rights to the character in 2000 and during the 2001 bankruptcy his attorney made an illegal deal giving away the rights. According to Craveonline.com, the company that bought the rights has been using the character for the last ten years for videogames, comic books and action figures. It makes me wonder why Stan didn’t sue earlier to stop them from using “his” character before. As far as the movie, he wants the rights to the character back plus 100% of the profits of the movie which took in a disappointedly $10 million on its opening weekend.

Putting aside any legitimate legal standings, I’m starting to think Stan Lee’s retirement plan is filing lawsuits against anyone making a movie with any characters he was associated with.

Correction: As one commentor below notes, the lawsuit is being filed by Stan Lee Media, not Stan Lee the individual. Several news stories (including the NY Post story I linked to) make it appear Stan is behind the lawsuits, but most others clarify that it is his old media company.

6 thoughts on “Stan Lee sues to reclaim Conan rights

  1. Why wouldn’t anyone assume Stan Lee was still connected to SLM? Like it was earth-shattering news that he’s disassociated himself? Even the story you link to keeps using Stan’s name.

    Add to that this blog is mostly about comic strips and not comic books, and there’s even more reason why Alan wouldn’t know.

    Looks to me like you’ve got a grudge against this blog, otherwise you would have nicely pointed this out instead of being rude. Try taking a “be decent to others” pill once in a while.

  2. A reporters job is to report facts.

    The facts where not gathered here and a partial story was presented.

    You say I need to be decent for defending someones name against a false claim? maybe they should “Be Decent To Others” pill and get the facts right to start with! That would be the decent thing to do.

    and as for not knowing, if it is not what the blog is about don’t report on it or take the time to do it right.

    And no, I have no grudge on this blog I follow it here and on twitter and was disappointed in such poor reporting on their part, I know they can do better.

  3. Alan isn’t a reporter, he’s a blogger. And this ain’t CNN or the New York Times. He has a full time job and only does this as a labor of love. That doesn’t mean he’s allowed to rampantly make factual errors, but I’ve read his blog for some time and have rarely seen him make them. When he HAS made an error, he’s corrected it and apologized when necessary.

    What I object to is the tone of your comment, not the fact you’re calling him on an error. “Nice job attacking someone and insulting them with out doing proper research on the subject. Do a little research” is the kind of nasty crap (minus profanity) that saps the joy of reading on the internet. Everyone makes mistakes, everyone has an opinion. The point is to treat others with respect. You could have corrected him minus the rudeness.

    And don’t say Alan is disrespectful because he didn’t research enough—I follow the world of comic books pretty closely and _I_ barely remember that Lee is now disassociated from SLM. So if it hardly registered as a blip w/ me, why would it with Alan, who does this out his love for comic strips, and who generally just tells us of and links to things he’s heard or read—and not because he’s an investigative reporter ?

  4. And the comment

    “I?m starting to think Stan Lee?s retirement plan is filing lawsuits against anyone making a movie with any characters he was associated with.”

    Is showing respect? I dont think my phrasing is any worse then that… If he had just made the mistake in reporting I would have been just as polite in pointing it out, but he took the chance to make a jab himself which I thought was rude and uncalled for.

    Right in their header they call themselves “the source for industry news”, That makes him a reporter no matter if it is in a blog or paper. They should be held to just as high levels of accountability as anyone “professional service.

    If you dont want to fact check then dont claim to be a news site and just be a blog…

  5. Stan Lee is NOT suing ANYONE.

    Stan Lee Inc. is suing.

    Alan made a mistake. NOT because he is a blogger. But because he is human…

    I’m sure Alan will fix this soon.

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