Court rules ‘Star Trek’-Seuss mash-up book not protected
Anunauthorizedmash-up of the “Star Trek” and Dr.
Seussuniverses, abooktitled “Oh, the Places You’ll Boldly Go!,” is not protected from a copyright infringement claim, afederalappealscourt ruled last week.
The ruling by a threejudge panel from the 9th U.S. CircuitCourtofAppeals concerned a Kickstarter-backed book, created by ComicMix, that inserted “Star Trek” characters into the whimsical pastel world Dr. Seuss created for the 1990 children’s classic “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” The ComicMix book, a primer on “Star Trek” characters and lore, replicated broad swaths of the Dr. Seuss original, including small details oftheillustrations,thejudges said.
Lawyers for ComicMix argued that the publication was permissible under fair use, a legal defense that grants satirists, aggregators and remixers some leeway undercertaincircumstances.
But in overturning a lowercourt ruling, the judges declaredthatthepublication failed to meet the required standards for fair use.
“The creators thought their ‘Star Trek’ primer would be ‘pretty well protected by parody,’ but acknowledged that ‘people inblackrobes’ maydisagree,”
Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote in the opinion, which was issued Friday.
“Indeed, we do.”
The book was created by David Gerrold, who wrote for the original “Star Trek.”
Dr. Seuss — Theodor Seuss Geisel— died in 1991.
Dr. SeussEnterprises, which oversees the author’s estate, sued the three men and ComicMix in 2016. The judges’ ruling allows the lawsuittoproceedonthefair use claim.
Hauman said in an interview that he and his lawyer had not decided how to proceed but added that he was “pretty optimistic.”
“I’m just going to quote Captain Kirk and say there are always possibilities,” he said.
In a statement, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said it was “thrilled” with the decision.
The book, which was never published, raised nearly $30,000 in 2016 on Kickstarter. Dr. Seuss Enterprises responded to the crowdfunding effort by sending a cease-and-desist letter to ComicMix and a takedown notice to Kickstarter under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Kickstarter took down the campaign and blocked the fundsthathadbeenpledged.
Artists and publications have long wrestled with what can and cannot be considered fair use, a notoriously difficult to define standard that has left many creators uncertain of where the boundaries are. But ComicMix did not consult a lawyer or pursue a license before creating the book, McKeown wrote.
ComicMix could not argue the book was a parody since it wasn’t critiquing the original, the judge wrote.
ComicMix argued that the book could be considered transformative since it contained “extensive new content,” a claim the judge rejected.
“Although ComicMix’s work need not boldly go where no one has gone before, its repackaging, copying, and lack of critique of Seuss, coupled with its commercial use of Go!, do not result in a transformative use,” McKeown wrote.
The illustrations copied the exact composition of the original, the judge said. The book “captured the placementsandposesofthecharacters, as well as every red hatch mark arching over the hand-holding characters in Grinch’s iconic finale scene, thenpluggedintheStarTrek characters,” the judge said.
On a crowdfunding page to help with legal fees, Hauman described the thinking behind the ComicMix book — writing in rhyme. “We were very respectful, not lewd, rude, or crude,” he wrote. “We thought it was wonderful … ! … then we got sued.”
Seussuniverses, abooktitled “Oh, the Places You’ll Boldly Go!,” is not protected from a copyright infringement claim, afederalappealscourt ruled last week.
The ruling by a threejudge panel from the 9th U.S. CircuitCourtofAppeals concerned a Kickstarter-backed book, created by ComicMix, that inserted “Star Trek” characters into the whimsical pastel world Dr. Seuss created for the 1990 children’s classic “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” The ComicMix book, a primer on “Star Trek” characters and lore, replicated broad swaths of the Dr. Seuss original, including small details oftheillustrations,thejudges said.
Lawyers for ComicMix argued that the publication was permissible under fair use, a legal defense that grants satirists, aggregators and remixers some leeway undercertaincircumstances.
But in overturning a lowercourt ruling, the judges declaredthatthepublication failed to meet the required standards for fair use.
“The creators thought their ‘Star Trek’ primer would be ‘pretty well protected by parody,’ but acknowledged that ‘people inblackrobes’ maydisagree,”
Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote in the opinion, which was issued Friday.
“Indeed, we do.”
The book was created by David Gerrold, who wrote for the original “Star Trek.”
Dr. Seuss — Theodor Seuss Geisel— died in 1991.
Dr. SeussEnterprises, which oversees the author’s estate, sued the three men and ComicMix in 2016. The judges’ ruling allows the lawsuittoproceedonthefair use claim.
Hauman said in an interview that he and his lawyer had not decided how to proceed but added that he was “pretty optimistic.”
“I’m just going to quote Captain Kirk and say there are always possibilities,” he said.
In a statement, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said it was “thrilled” with the decision.
The book, which was never published, raised nearly $30,000 in 2016 on Kickstarter. Dr. Seuss Enterprises responded to the crowdfunding effort by sending a cease-and-desist letter to ComicMix and a takedown notice to Kickstarter under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Kickstarter took down the campaign and blocked the fundsthathadbeenpledged.
Artists and publications have long wrestled with what can and cannot be considered fair use, a notoriously difficult to define standard that has left many creators uncertain of where the boundaries are. But ComicMix did not consult a lawyer or pursue a license before creating the book, McKeown wrote.
ComicMix could not argue the book was a parody since it wasn’t critiquing the original, the judge wrote.
ComicMix argued that the book could be considered transformative since it contained “extensive new content,” a claim the judge rejected.
“Although ComicMix’s work need not boldly go where no one has gone before, its repackaging, copying, and lack of critique of Seuss, coupled with its commercial use of Go!, do not result in a transformative use,” McKeown wrote.
The illustrations copied the exact composition of the original, the judge said. The book “captured the placementsandposesofthecharacters, as well as every red hatch mark arching over the hand-holding characters in Grinch’s iconic finale scene, thenpluggedintheStarTrek characters,” the judge said.
On a crowdfunding page to help with legal fees, Hauman described the thinking behind the ComicMix book — writing in rhyme. “We were very respectful, not lewd, rude, or crude,” he wrote. “We thought it was wonderful … ! … then we got sued.”
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