Out-Law News 1 min. read

Sony sued for hijacking Spider-Man


Spider-man creator Marvel Enterprises is suing Sony Pictures Entertainment for $50 million, alleging fraud and saying that Sony misappropriated its most popular superhero for itself to the exclusion of Marvel, despite promises of unparalleled merchandising opportunities.

Marvel knew it was sitting on a box office hit with the Spider-Man rights. In fact, last year's movie, starring Toby Maguire, became the highest grossing film of 2002, taking over $800 million at cinemas worldwide. Combined with DVD sales, it generated more than $1.3 billion in revenue.

Marvel chose to license Spider-Man to Sony because it made a better offer than any other potential partner. But the lawsuit says Sony never delivered on its false promises.

In addition to damages, Marvel's lawsuit seeks rescission of the license agreement between Marvel and Sony and an injunction against any further film or television production by Sony of Spider-Man beyond the current sequel, "Spider-Man 2," which is already in production. Marvel has also asked to try its case to a jury.

Sony is also accused of wrongfully withholding millions of dollars from Marvel, by using "Hollywood accounting" practices and refusing to provide critical financial information owed to Marvel.

Yesterday, a judge of Los Angeles Superior Court denied a motion brought by Sony to "seal" the court proceedings – i.e. keep them secret.

If the license agreement between Sony and Marvel is cancelled, Sony will lose the right to make movies based on Spider-Man after Spider-Man 2. More importantly, Sony's opportunity to build a long-running film franchise for itself comparable to the James Bond films (Sony's unsuccessful attempt to acquire that franchise for itself from MGM was defeated in federal court in 1998) will be in jeopardy.

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