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Spider-Man creator Stan Lee is facing legal action from shareholders of a company over film and book profits they claim amount to $750m.
   Marvel, the force behind The Incredible Hulk and The X-Men, is also accused of violating copyright, which the company says was transferred to it in 1998.
   Marvel has said the legal papers, which were filed in New York, are filled with ‘ridiculous claims’.
   In 2005, Lee won a case with Marvel over profits earned on his creations.
   The company whose shareholders are taking legal action against Lee
   is Stan Lee Media Inc, which he founded in the 1990s, but went bankrupt in 2001.
   The organisation re-emerged in 2006, and a year later Lee, now 86, sued it on a number of grounds, including cybersquatting and copyright infringement.
   The firm went on to take action against Marvel in a claim over ownership rights to a string of comic book superheroes, which it said Lee had signed away.
   The company’s laywer, Martin Garbus, said he suspects that Lee entered into an agreement that prevented them from gaining profits from films and merchandise.
   ‘That money should have gone to the corporation,’ he said.
   Lee’s legal representative, Mark Williams, said: ‘We look forward to a positive resolution for Stan Lee and his family.’
   In recent years, Marvel characters have spawned a number of blockbusting movies, including The X-Men series.

World cartoonists will be participating at the 8th Tabriz International Cartoon Contest entitled ‘No War’ and cartoons on Gaza will be given a warm welcome.
   The contest will be hosting works from 45 countries including Spain, Lebanon, Argentine, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cuba, Columbia, France and Germany. So far, China with 10 cartoonists, Turkey with 7, and Italy and Serbia each with
   4 are the countries with the largest number of participants entering the
   contest.
   Interested applicants are asked to submit their works before February 3. The entries will be judged on February 14, and results will be announced during the award ceremony on February 17. The winners will also be listed on TabrizCartoons.com on the same day.
   Mikhail Zlatkovsky (Russia), Vladimir Kazanevsky (Ukraine), and Bayram Hacizadeh (Azerbaijan) are among the jury members of the 8th edition of the contest.
   The selection board members include Rahim Baqqal Asghari, Sadeq Baqeri, Sevda Jannati, Naeimeh Nikuray, and Davud Panahi.
   The first place winner will receive a cash prize of 1000euro and the Tabriz Cartoon Association Golden Trophy.
   The second winner will get 500euro and the Tabriz Silver Trophy, and the third winner will have 250euro and the Bronze Trophy.