Stan Lee Lawsuits: Evil Clone Edition
Now that the east coast Stan Lee comic book lawsuit has been thoroughly described, it is time to focus on legal “evil clone” on the west coast: QED Productions, LLC, et al. v. Nesfield, et al. The facts are rather convoluted.
Stan Lee and his partner Peter Paul incorporated Stan Lee Entertainment (SLE) in 1998. Lee entered an employment agreement with SLE in which he assigned the rights to various copyrights and trademarks, which included materials like Stan’s Evil Clone (Evil Clone), to the corporation in exchange for salary and stocks. Later in 1999, SLE merged with a Delaware corporation called Stan Lee Media, Inc. (SLMI-DE). In that same year, SLMI-DE became a subsidiary of a Colorado company called Stan Lee Media, INC. (SLMI-CO). The company was originally known as Boulder Capital Opportunities, LLC.
SLMI-DE and SLMI-CO filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy in 2001. With the approval of the bankruptcy judge, all parties negotiated an agreement through which the assets of SLMI-DE would be sold to SLC, LLC, which was to be “creatively controlled” by Stan Lee. SLC was never formed. Instead, Lee transferred all of the rights to a company called QED, LLC. This transaction was was never approved by the bankruptcy judge.
QED, LLC then filed filed a complaint on January 9, 2007 against against the people behind SMLI-DE and SLMI-CO. Two amended complaints were ultimately filed. The second one, which contained claims including copyright infringement, trademark infringement and cybersquatting, was filed on August 25, 2008. QED, LLC eventually filed a Motion for Summary Judgment and the trial judge’s ruling, which instigated the recent battle of the press releases, was issued on January 20, 2009. In this order, the trial court judge found that Lee’s transfer of assets to QED, LLC was void inbecause it violated the automatic stay imposed when SLMI-DE and SLMI-CO filed bankruptcy. The case is now closed pending the outcome of related litigation in Colorado.