'Memes Have Rights Too': Grumpy Cat Wins $710,000 In Copyright Lawsuit (thewrap.com) 62
Zorro shares a report from TheWrap: The Grumpy Cat Limited company was awarded $710,001 in damages on Monday when a California jury decided that the beverage company Grenade was guilty of infringing on its copyright and trademark. Grumpy Cat Limited, formed by Tabatha Bundesen to monetize the viral fame of her sour-faced cat (real name, Tardar Sauce), sued Grenade in 2015, claiming the company used the cat's image on several of its products, despite only having the rights to sell a line of iced coffees called "Grumpy Cat Grumppuccino." The Grumpy Cat image appeared on Grenade's roasted coffee line and tee-shirts, neither of which were part of the original deal. Grenade filed its own countersuit, claiming Grumpy Cat didn't hold up its end of the bargain and failed to promote the brand as outlined under the terms of the deal. However, the jury wasn't moved by its argument and ultimately decided in favor of the meme. "It's important precedent when you have something like a meme online," David Jonelis of Lavely & Singer, Grumpy Cat's lawyer, told TheWrap. "It's the first verdict ever rendered in favor of a viral meme. Memes have rights too."
Say what? (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh wait, who do we have to pay for violating the rights of the "hook line and sinker" meme?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm unsure whether the lawyer is an idiot, or just knows that making outrageous statements will grab headlines.
Or maybe he just has a, you know, sense of humour?
Re:Say what? (Score:4, Funny)
Not from an attorney, no. I know of many jokes *about* them, but none *from* them.
Re:Say what? (Score:5, Insightful)
I think the point he is trying to make is that even if something becomes a meme it retains its copyright and you can't just use it in your products without licensing.
It's different to say a trademark where you have to defend it, for example.
Re: (Score:2)
I think the point he is trying to make is that even if something becomes a meme it retains its copyright and you can't just use it in your products without licensing.
It's different to say a trademark where you have to defend it, for example.
Then he made the point very poorly because this case and the win was about defending this registered trademark. [justia.com]
Re:Say what? (Score:5, Funny)
fell for it hook line and sinker.?
Hi. I'm a lawyer from Abshagen and Dillard, and we represent Fishing Cliches, Inc. You have made use of their patented expression without the express written consent of FCI or MLB. You must pay $100 or be guilty of infring-meme-nt.
Re: (Score:3)
Clickbait has rights too you know!
Re: (Score:1)
It's a joke. Sheesh! Get over yourself.
Re: (Score:2)
This is why I'm rooting for "Extinction-Event Asteroid" in the next election....
Re: (Score:3)
It is hardly a new concept, as many estates of famous people also trademark the likeness of them. Einstein's family still owns his likeness which cannot be used for commercial purposes without their permission.
Re: (Score:1)
Notta problem (Score:1)
It's okay, we're switching to Pissed Off Cat [ytimg.com]
Re: What a joke (Score:2)
It's called public domain... It applies to anything created before Steamboat Willie
Insert image of (Score:2)
Since I cannot so it, you will have to imagine it...
"Insert meme .jpg of Grumpy Cat with the word "Good!" in a bold Inpact font at the bottom in white."
She's not a meme (Score:2)
She's a cat.
Trademarking a likeness is no different to producing a human-celebrity endorsed cologne.
Re: (Score:2)
And?
You're using a person's likeness. That the law would draw a distinction because that person is a cat just smacks of human chauvinism.
Re: (Score:2)
The cat is not suing, the slave cat owner is suing, in this case the cat has no right to anything beyond a humane putting to sleep for what ever reason the slave cat owner deems appropriate, whether that be chicken fried cat (and that's not chicken revenge frying that is unborn chicken sacrifice frying) or any other use the slave cut owner wishes to put the humanly 'put to sleep' cat. https://peterbarrett.com.au/20... [peterbarrett.com.au] One persons pet is another person mass murderer http://www.abc.net.au/news/201... [abc.net.au]. Perhaps
Re: (Score:2)
What "artificial scarcity"? There are plenty of cats — most of them capable of hilarious "facial" expressions...
If the "mere copy" of this particular cat's expression were really "worthless", then why would the company use that image in particular? I guess, it was not... They wanted that image in particular for some reason.
Marx got it all wron
Company NE Meme (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
NE != !=
Well, I guess he isn't grumpy anymore? (Score:1)
Tardar Sauce? (Score:3)
So, I can't tell if they're just really dumb and don't know how to spell, or if they're making a kind of tasteless joke, but either way, that's got to be about the worst name for a cat that I've ever heard.
Re:Tardar Sauce? (Score:5, Informative)
They were, in fact making a tasteless joke. The cat was named "tardar sauce" and the owner originally called her "Tard" for short, but once the cat became famous, a number of people objected to the use of the word Tard, which is short for "retard", and complained; the owner refers to the cat by her name in full now, supposedly.
Re: Tardar Sauce? (Score:1)
And of course, "retarded" was originally a euphemism for "stupid". What could be more genteel than the Latin word for "slow"? Yet if she'd named her cat "stupid", nobody would have objected.
reading comprehension? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's a tasteless joke. The cat was named reference to its deformity. Feline dwarfism, one of those genetic things that plagues purebreds. Once it became famous the owners wisely avoided using the name, and now use Grumpy Cat in public.
Best genius (Score:2)
Lottery winners have a great work-payout ratio, they are smarter.
Actually being born with money makes you the smartest, like a really stable genius.
Well as long (Score:2)
It don’t touches my sphaget!
The Punchline (Score:2)
Corporations have human rights. They have the right to donate as much money as they want to politicians to shape policy. There is very little doubt this is tax deductible, you tax dollars paying to undermine democracy.
That's why the cat is so damn grumpy.
Fuck this planet. (Score:2)
A picture of a cat with a genetic deformity caused by generations of purebred inbreeding is worth more than most people will earn in a lifetime.
Bring on the meteor. There is no intelligent life here.
The first verdict ever? (Score:1)
Keyboard Cat and Nyan Cat would beg to disagree.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelli... [nymag.com]
I suppose one could argue that the above was not a "verdict" since both parties "reached an agreement", but I'd still argue that standard copyright/trademark protection isn't anything new in the world of memes.
Not new (Score:2)
Lawsuits like that are nothing new, plenty of other meme-related owners or authors have been involved in successful lawsuits.
But the Grumpy Cat case is certainly an exception ammong viral memes... a brand, full blown company with big celebrity-like apparatus was built quickly after initial explosive success. Can't blame them for doing so, they took the opportunity and went with it.
Most memes don't exploit this as well as they did.