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Stan Lee Drops US$1 Billlion Lawsuit Against Pow! Entertainment
posted on by Karen Ressler
Stan Lee and Pow! Entertainment announced on Monday that Lee has dropped his US$1 billion lawsuit against Pow! Entertainment and its executives Gill Champion and Shane Duffy.
Lee commented that he is "thrilled" to put the lawsuit behind him and to continue to work with Pow! Entertainment. He described the lawsuit as "confusing to everyone, including myself and the fans." Duffy also noted that the staff at Pow! Entertainment are looking forward to working again with Lee "to develop and produce the great projects that were put on hold when the lawsuit was filed."
Lee filed the lawsuit on May 14. It alleged that Pow! Entertainment forged or fraudulently obtained exclusive rights to Lee's name, image, and likeness. According to the suit, Lee grants non-exclusive rights to his name, and he would not have intentionally signed away exclusive rights.
The suit stated that Pow! Entertainment took control of Lee's Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts without permission. However, Lee's Twitter account posted on May 12, "Today was the first day I ever did a tweet myself. Before today, my account was done by others. I still do not have control of my Facebook. Someone else is doing it, NOT me." Lee also said on Twitter on Tuesday, "Help! Someone has hijacked my Facebook and Instagram. I want everyone to know whoever is writing them is a fraud and is impersonating me. How do I get them back? Can you guys help?"
Hong Kong-based company Camsing International Holding acquired Pow! Entertainment's assets last year. After the sale, Camsing's Duffy became the company's CEO, and Pow! Entertainment executive Champion became its president. Lee alleged in the suit that he did not agree to the sale to Camsing and notes that Pow! Entertainment shareholders are now suing him due to the deal.
Camsing Entertainment responded to the suit by calling it "completely without merit."
Lee founded Pow! Entertainment alongside Champion and Arthur Lieberman in 2001. The company has collaborated with Japanese and American publishers, as well as anime studios to produce content. It has collaborated with Shueisha and Viz Media to produce Hiroyuki Takei's Ultimo manga that ended in 2015. It collaborated with Bones and Wowmax Media to develop the Heroman anime and manga in 2010. Recently, it collaborated with Studio DEEN to develop The Reflection anime project, which premiered last summer and Crunchyroll is streaming.
Camsing has offices in Singapore, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Los Angeles, and has worked with PepsiCo, the China Construction Bank, Procter & Gamble, Nokia, the NBA, Visa, Blizzard, Disney, Hasbro, and Warner Bros., among others. The company has worked on such properties as Kung Fu Panda, Transformers, Star Wars, World of Warcraft, and Shaun the Sheep. It has interests in the oil and insurance industries in Chinese-speaking countries.
Source: Press release
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