Marvel, Sony Settle ‘Spider-Man’ Dispute

Marvel Enterprises Inc. and Sony Pictures Entertainment have settled a 16-month-old legal entanglement over their “Spider-Man” film licensing venture in a deal that should boost Marvel revenue, the comic book publisher said.

New York-based Marvel accused Sony of trying to hijack the Spider-Man brand by claiming exclusive merchandising rights to the character and “cross-promoting” the superhero with other Sony films in alleged violation of their partnership.

Sony, a unit of Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. , countered that Marvel sought to cheat the studio out of millions of dollars through shady accounting practices and was using its litigation as leverage to force Sony into renegotiating their licensing deal.

Marvel shares closed down 18 cents, or just under 1%, at $20.12 on the NYSE.