jakonovski
Member
How curious, the name Nyan Cat was actually spontaneously conceived by the internet. I wonder how something like that affects copyright.
How curious, the name Nyan Cat was actually spontaneously conceived by the internet. I wonder how something like that affects copyright.
How curious, the name Nyan Cat was actually spontaneously conceived by the internet. I wonder how something like that affects copyright.
I think the parody defense is rock solid here. I think they're just trying to scare up a settlement or something.
A piece has copyright since the moment it comes to be (at least according to spanish laws)
Copyright is not attributed to name, it's the creation. Ideas and names can't be copyright. that would be the work of patents and trademarks.
A piece has copyright since the moment it comes to be (at least according to spanish laws)
I could see the Nyan Cat guy having a claim, but not the Keyboard Cat one. I am pretty sure the Nyan Cat guy has actually exercised copyright control over the appearance of Nyan cat in other games and merchandise related to it, but can't think of anything like that for the Keyboard Cat Image.
Imo it isnt a parody. Still, the weight they have on the whole game is pretty pointless, so I don't think they have much of a case. Except the keyboard cat owner is looking like a loser who got his/her thunder stolen, and the nyan cat creator doesn't even understand that 90% of the fame came from someone else's idea of mixing the gif with a song). In short: they look like asses for what they're doing.
Unlike with trademarks, failing to police your own copyright generally has no impact on its continuing validity. It can be relevant in assessing damages or evaluating licensing agreements, however.
Then how was South Park able to use all of those characters in ImaginationLand, and call them by name, if not for parody? They did not license those characters out. They had minor visual tweaks to keep them juuuust out of the realm of copyright infringement and in the land of parody.
I dont say that there's not a right of parody that falls under fair use. I'm just saying this is not a parody, while it still can be fair use. If a level had to do exclusively with nyan cat or keyboard cat, i'd understand their discomfort with it. I don't get why they sue over this aside from MONEYGRUB.
Why do you think this is not a parody?
the thing is, what did he exactly copyright? acting can have a copyright, but a drawing of a cat on a piano bears little resemblance to the play which is the only thing that can be copyrighted. He's grasping for straws there. The nyan cat is entirely different, but since the fame of nyan cat came from something else than the pixel art, i think the author should keep quiet about this.
That'd likely be a question this case would have to resolve. However, acquiring a copyright in the US is incredibly simple, an copyright covers a (perhaps excessively) wide breadth of works. I'm not sure how you'd argue this wouldn't be subject to copyright protection per se.
Well, with keyboard cat, one could probably argue without much difficulty that a cat playing a piano is just an idea. Ideas aren't copyrightable. There's nothing especially original about keyboard cat as a character, and that's basically the only way you'd show that keyboard cat can be protected by copyright. So keyboard cat dude is screwed.
Nyan cat is almost definitely copyrightable. A cat composed of a cat head, toaster pastry, and rainbow is quite original.
Well, I could see the argument being "this is just Nyan cat, plopped into the game. There's nothing unique or creative about the way he's incorporated into the game -- this isn't satire or comedic or anything that puts some sort of spin on the original. they've just taken the author's copyrighted work and placed it in their game verbatim."
And that sort of approach has worked for defeating fair use before.
That'd likely be a question this case would have to resolve. However, acquiring a copyright in the US is incredibly simple, an copyright covers a (perhaps excessively) wide breadth of works. I'm not sure how you'd argue this wouldn't be subject to copyright protection per se.
Thats's more of an argument concerning how broad a copyright keyboard cat should possess than one addressing whether it should be granted a copyright at all. After all, every creative work is "just an idea" if you abstract it enough.
Likewise, the originality threshold for copyright in the US is exceedingly low, and will typically operate to bar copyright protection only for things like pure, uncurated data.
They haven't placed it verbatim though, it was redrawn in the style of other cats in their games.
They haven't placed it verbatim though, it was redrawn in the style of other cats in their games.
You can't own a fucking keyboard playing cat.
Time for Evilore to sue.
Used with permission.
What a pointless lawsuit. These cat characters were nothing but cameos and Easter eggs. Many games every year include homages to famous pop-culture characters. The new Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon game has a Ninja Turtles Easter egg but you don't see their copyright holder getting angry. Also, I think it would be safe to assume that in the marketing for Scribblenauts those two characters were never shown. Meaning, 5th Cell or WB never use those characters to increase sales from potential customers. I think those two guys would be friends with Tim Langdell.
Well, no matter what happens, this is going to have the dumbest/silliest sounding lawsuit documentation ever.
I would've thought memes would be under public domain or fair usage.
After all, there are literally hundreds of thousands of duplicates from different people that they made without needing to go after a license or anything.
The Eurogamer article about this has been updated with a statement from the creator of the Nyan Cat meme:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...5th-cell-hit-by-keyboard-cat-nyan-cat-lawsuit
We reached out to the companies in hopes of working out an amicable resolution of the issue, yet were disrespected and snubbed each time as nothing more than nuisances for asking for fair compensation for our intellectual property. That's not right. I have no issues with Nyan Cat being enjoyed by millions of fans as a meme , and I have never tried to prevent people from making creative uses of it that contribute artistically and are not for profit. But this is a commercial use, and these companies themselves are protectors of their own intellectual property. Many other companies have licensed Nyan Cat properly to use commercially. In Scribblenauts Unlimited, you have to actually type out the words "Nyan Cat" and "Keyboard Cat" to get our characters to appear in the game. In fact, the game forbids you from making any copyright references in their games with a pop-up error. Meanwhile, 5th Cell recently negotiated proper rights for several Nintendo characters for their games. Just because popularity with millions of fans has caused Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat to become famous by virtue of their viral or meme nature, doesn't give these companies a right to take our work for free in order to make profits for themselves, especially considering too that they would be the first to file lawsuits against people who misappropriate their copyrights and trademarks. It just isnt fair. I've been working alongside with the creator of the music and the lady who uploaded it to YouTube since the start. There are many reputable companies that have respected our rights and negotiated fees to use our characters commercially. Warner Bros. and 5th Cell should have done the same.
Since Warner Bros. and 5th Cell chose to act as if we had no rights in characters we created, filing a lawsuit was the only way we had to protect our intellectual property rights from being used for others' commercial profit without our consent. Too often normal artists like us don't have the means and resources to protect our rights against big media corporations who use our work for their own profit without permission. We are looking here just to be treated fairly and to be fairly compensated for our creative work.
But man do I wish I could.You can't own a fucking keyboard playing cat.
What has society come to when memes can be trademarked or copyrighted?
5th Cell will need to pay up, this lawsuit has clause.
How curious, the name Nyan Cat was actually spontaneously conceived by the internet. I wonder how something like that affects copyright.