X Factor creator Simon Cowell has responded to a lawsuit filed by Simon Fuller, the man behind American Idol.

It surfaced in July that Fuller was sueing Fox and Freemantle after they refused to give him an executive producer credit and fee for The X Factor USA.

He first filed a lawsuit against The X Factor when it launched in the UK in 2004, highlighting its similarities with Pop Idol and accusing Cowell of stealing his idea.

An agreement was eventually reached, with Fuller agreeing to axe Pop Idol in the UK, in return for an executive fee and credit on The X Factor. Cowell would also remain as an American Idol judge and promised not to bring The X Factor to America until at least 2011.

Cowell has now hit back at the latest lawsuit saying he was “surprised” to hear the news, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

He said: “You can’t give someone an executive producer’s title if they didn’t executive produce the show. It’s like me saying I want to be executive producer on NBC’s The Voice.

“Genuinely on this one I haven’t got a clue. It’s not part of our settlement agreement, it never was, so I was as surprised as anyone.”

The X Factor launches on Fox on September 21, and American Idol will return for its eleveth season on the same channel next Spring.

Do you think the two singing contests can survive side-by-side, or how long will it be until Fox drops one from it’s scheule?

Keep it central!