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Marvel's in for a Hulk of a Lawsuit - Barron's

As chairman and chief creative officer of the company, this is what Stan told the SEC and investors in his 10K annual report for 1999. www.secinfo.com/dsVsb....

Read below. Stan claimed the following: "Stan Lee's co-creations include Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Silver Surfer and Dr. Strange." How can he now say that the works were work for hire?

from the 10K ---

EMPLOYMENT AND SERVICES AGREEMENTS: The Company entered into a lifetime employment agreement with Stan Lee in 1998 in consideration for the assignment and transfer of all of Mr. Lee's right, title and interest in and to any and all ideas, names, titles, characters, symbols, logos, designs, likenesses, visual representations, artwork, stories, plots, scripts, episodes, literary property, and the conceptual universe related thereto, including his name and likeness. Mr. Lee's services for and on behalf of the Company shall be exclusive with the exception of those services provided under a lifetime agreement with Marvel Enterprises, Inc., which shall require no more than an average of 10-15 hours per week on its behalf. The employment agreement provides for base salary compensation of $250,000 annually, a discretionary bonus as determined by the company's board of directors, stock options equal to the highest number of options offered to company executives, reimbursement of certain business expenses, including without limitation, business-related travel and entertainment expenses, and a term life insurance policy in the minimum principal sum of $2 million.

UNIQUE COMPANY ASSETS Our primary assets consist of all the intellectual property currently owned by our founder Stan Lee, including ownership in perpetuity to Stan's name, likeness, brand and signature slogans, "Stan Lee Presents," "Excelsior!" and "Stan's Soap Box," along with rights to all intellectual property that will hereafter be created by Stan Lee. Known to millions as the man whose Super Heroes propelled Marvel Comics to its preeminent position in the comic book industry, Stan Lee's co-creations include Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Silver Surfer and Dr. Strange. Now, in the 21st Century, Stan Lee is broadening his horizons once more, this time, into cyberspace. His Marvel creations have inspired thousands of Super Hero fan sites throughout the web, representing millions of web page references. Now his fans and admirers may meet the newest cutting-edge Stan Lee characters in The 7th Portal, which has been launched on shockwave.com and will later be featured on our stanlee.net website. In addition, Stan's fans can visit stanlee.net to read a regularly updated Stanzine with games, goofs and features from Stan and his staff.