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Pow! Entertainment Owner Camsing Comments on Stan Lee's Lawsuit

Pow! Entertainment parent company Camsing International issued a statement regarding Stan Lee's lawsuit against Pow! Entertainment. Camsing stated that it has seen a copy of the lawsuit released to the media, but that the filing has not been confirmed by the listed courthouse.

Camsing's statement continues:

The complaint is completely without merit. In particular, the notion that Mr. Lee did not knowingly grant Pow! Entertainment the exclusive rights to his creative works or his identity is so preposterous that the Company has to wonder whether Mr. Lee is personally behind this lawsuit. There is no question that Mr. Lee–who along with his daughter was and remains a substantial Pow! Entertainment shareholder—clearly understood the terms of the agreements he signed. The evidence, which includes Mr. Lee's subsequent statements and conduct, is overwhelming and the Company looks forward to presenting it in court. When and if the complaint is properly served, Pow! Entertainment will respond in a timely and appropriate manner through legal channels.

Lee's US$1 billion lawsuit alleges that Pow! Entertainment and its executives Gill Champion and Shane Duffy 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 also states that Pow! Entertainment took control of Lee's Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts without permission.

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 alleges 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.

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.

Sources: Variety (Patrick Frater), Deadline (Andreas Wiseman)