Stardom is calling out rival promotion Marigold for what it claims is copyright infringement.
Stardom issued this public statement which doesn’t name Marigold but it is assumed it is the other company mentioned.
“We sincerely thank you for your continued support of Stardom. Currently, card products utilizing the likenesses of former Stardom wrestlers (hereinafter referred to as ‘the subject products’) are being manufactured and sold by another company. Following an investigation conducted by our company, we have confirmed the following facts regarding the advertising copy for the subject products and some of the cards enclosed within them,” stated Stardom.
Stardom listed these reasons:
- The products bear the advertising text ‘Stardom Memorial’
They use portraits of wrestlers from their time under our management
They utilize intellectual property managed by our company, such as belts and logos
They use photographic materials shot by our company for product use, and incorrectly display copyright notices attributing copyright to the other company
Stardom made its stance clear.
“However, as the company managing the rights to the aforementioned intellectual property and past athlete portraits, we have neither been requested to grant permission nor have we been involved in any way regarding the sale of this product. Moving forward, we intend to consider necessary measures to protect the intellectual property rights we hold or manage. We would appreciate your understanding of the above. Thank you for your kind attention,” stated Stardom.
Most believe Stardom is referring to a Mayu Iwatani card collection that is being sold by Marigold.
Marigold was founded by Rossy Ogawa who used to be the founder and top boss at Stardom. Iwatani left Stardom for Marigold last year.
