"He may not be as famous as a character like Sherlock Holmes or Luke Skywalker, but being famous is not the same as having defining characteristics," Tompros told Ars in an e-mail exchange.Tompros points out that Furie has a copyright in the actual image of Pepe, as well.
News stories that are dated before 2016, like the Vice story quoted above, show that Furie didn't have a problem with it.
In the end, I want 4chan to feel they were supported by being heard, respected, and part of the decision-making process. Instead of promoting my own agenda, it is my goal to promote 4chan. Cernovich's lawyer, Marc Randazza, penned a blistering note to Furie threatening to "embarrass the fuck out of" him and stating this his client's Pepe video was fair use. "When Matt Furie drew Pepe the Frog for a short-lived magazine in 2005, he had no way of knowing the character would become a mascot for the so-called "alt-right," a loose coalition of far-right groups that veer toward white nationalism.For Furie's lawyer, Louis Tompros, it's a clear slam-dunk.
But in this case, a copyrighted character was âtaken over and used by the alt-right movement for negative reasons.âJon Allen, the artist behind the Make America Great Again poster sold by Infowars, said he drew Pepe using an image found in a Google image search. When Armstrong wouldn’t lease it to the government during WWII, they took away his patent (for “national security”). Another of Furie’s attorneys, Louis Tompros of Wilmer Cutler, said Infowars’ fair use argument is invalid since the 2017 poster was created for commercial purposes, not political speech. I stand corrected.An encounter between militias in Louisville shows the enduring practical and symbolic importance of the right to armed self-defense.When Donald Trump tweeted that image of a Pepe version of himself it was roundly laughed at for totally misunderstanding the meme. All you really need to know is that sometime around 2010, a sad-looking cartoon frog began to trend among posters on … Infowars paid $15,000 to settle a dispute heading to trial, where a jury was to determine whether adding Pepe the Frog to a poster featuring right-wing political figures and President Donald Trump was fair use under copyright law. Furie indisputably owns the copyright to the original Pepe comic strips that he drew in 2005. Allen said he was unaware that Matt Furie was Pepeâs creator, though he knew the character was a meme. Unlike 4Chan meme contributors, 2 Live Crew intended to profit from their parody, which explicitly copied lyrics and music from the original.If not, Wilmer Hale partner Louis Tompros would like a word with you. Fair use is a frustratingly vague exemption to copyright law in which a person can use material that is copyrighted based on an evaluation of four factors: the purpose of the use, the nature of the original work, the quantity and quality of the portion of work used, and whether it hurts the profitability of the original work. You can't take a character, claim you're using it in a parody, and then have free rein to use the character.
On mainstream social media it’s a pretty distinct alt-right identifier.I totally agree with you.