Thursday, J.C. Lee and representatives filed suit against POW! Entertainment in an attempt to return all Stan Lee-created intellectual property back to the Lee estate. POW! has since provided ComicBook.com with a statement, something alleging Lee’s recent move as “nothing more than a perverse publicity stunt.” The statement in its entirety — as provided to ComicBook.com by a POW! spokesperson — can be found below.
“It is truly unfortunate that Stan Lee’s name has to be involved in these continued frivolous actions which are truly nothing more than family drama.
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J.C. Lee and others have unsuccessfully brought these very same arguments to court in multiple cases over the past 20 years, unfortunately, even leveling these arguments against her father when he was still alive. In those prior cases, the court system ruled in POWs favor, confirming without question POW! is the legal and proper owner of these rights. We are more than confident that this case will be promptly disposed of by the courts.
What is truly saddening for those at POW!, many of whom have been Stan’s Closest confidants, friends, and business associates for so many years, is to see his estranged daughter using Stan’s name in such a brazen and transparent effort to gain media attention and extract some financial settlement. The reality is that Stan Lee himself left specific instructions, including legal declarations, specifying that JC Lee is not to have any control, say, claim, right, or interest in or to the intellectual property that Stan left behind. Stan’s own instructions dictate that JC Lee is not to have any involvement whatsoever in the commercial development of Stan’s intellectual property. POW! is now, and always has been, Stan Lee’s company and his legacy and will be forever, the way he wanted it to be.
All of the past legal actions are a matter of public record and plainly show that the present legal action is nothing more than a perverse publicity stunt.”
The suit — filed Thursday in the US District Court for the Central District of California — alleges POW! tricked the late comic creator into reassigning various works he created to POW! Lee and her team seek the return of all Lee-created works to the Lee Family Survivor’s Trust, which JC serves as a trustee of. Stan Lee himself was involved in a similar suit in the months leading up to his death, though he eventually dropped that lawsuit and seemed to be on good terms with the company he helped create.
