Stan Lee's Daughter Files Suit to Reclaim "Looted" Intellectual Property
Stan Lee's daughter J.C. has filed suit in California federal court against POW! Entertainment, in which she claims that executives at the company exploited the legendary filmmakers deteriorating health. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lee's daughter argues that they induced him "to sign documents under fraudulent pretenses or forging his signature." In the complaint, J.C asserts that their methods enabled them "to loot the assets of Stan Lee Entertainment."
Before his death in November last year, Lee dismissed a $1 billion lawsuit against POW!, stating "I am thrilled to put the lawsuit behind me, get back to business with my friends and colleagues at POW! and launch the next wave of amazing characters and stories!”
Now, as the trustee for the Lee Family Survivor's Trust his daughter is attempting to reclaim name and likeness rights. Unlike Lee's initial suit, the new challenge goes all the way back to the early '90s when he was fired from Marvel. According to the Hollywood Reporter, it was at this point that Lee "took his rights and set up a namesake company."
"By this lawsuit, Stan Lee's heir and Estate seek to perform the covenant Stan Lee made with his namesake company and remedy the wrongs inflicted by trusted business associates over the last two decades," states the complaint. "It is intended to restore the rights he assigned to the namesake company he founded when he was liberated from a 60-year career with Marvel Comics, the comic book company he founded and creatively directed to become the preeminent Superhero entertainment company in the world."