Publisher suing over Marvel rights

A publishing firm is suing Marvel - claiming rights to titles including Spider-Man.

Stan Lee Media was orginally co-founded by Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-Man and numerous other well known characters.

He has since sold the company on but it is now claiming rights to his titles, according to Associated Press.

It has filed papers in New York claiming Lee signed his rights away to the company in 1998 and claiming a 50 per cent cut of profits from Marvel film licencing deals.

Lee, now 88, released a statement rejecting the claim. It said: "I do not support this action and believe the suit to be baseless."

Marvel has also rejected the claim. In 2005 Lee had to go to court himself to win 10 per cent of Marvel's profits from the Spider-Man movies.