Can't Make This Up: Katy Perry's Lawyers Use Left Shark Photo Taken By Guy They're Threatening In Trademark Application
from the wait,-isn't-that-copyright-infringement? dept
The story of Katy Perry and the 3D printed Left Shark keeps getting more and more bizarre. If you don't recall, Perry's lawyers threatened legal action over plans that were made available online for a 3D printed version of "the Left Shark." This was the internet meme that became a thing after one of Perry's backup dancers (dressed in a shark costume) looked a bit off during the Super Bowl. As we discussed, Perry's copyright claim seemed more than a bit off. Then the guy who made the 3d printed shark, Fernando Sosa, retained law professor and copyright expert Chris Sprigman, who responded to Perry's lawyers, explaining how there was no copyright interest here and how it would probably be best for everyone to just walk away slowly. Or quickly.But, you know, these are lawyers we're talking about. High-powered, high-paid entertainment industry lawyers. They're not ones to just back down when someone points out that their copyright argument is bullshit. No, they double down. And thus, we get Perry's pricey Greenberg Taurig lawyers' response to Sosa and Sprigman [pdf] in which they try, desperately, to create a magical copyrightable shark costume out of pixie dust and words. But, as Sprigman explains in response [pdf], their argument is not convincing.
Perry's lawyers argue that Perry's team designed the shark and thus it's theirs, theirs, theirs. They even made drawings. They also admit that, while costumes aren't copyrightable, other elements of the costume are, as being "separable." Basically, if there are unique creative elements, those are copyrightable. But that's a stretch. As for the drawings, so what?
First, you claim that the Left Shark costume is copyrightable because it is based on the “multiple shark drawings” you say were produced by Katy Perry’s team. The drawings are irrelevant. Sketches of Left Shark may be copyrightable, but that doesn’t make the Left Shark costume copyrightable. A design sketch of a ladies’ dress is copyrightable. And yet as anyone in the U.S. fashion industry will tell you, the dress on the rack is a useful article, which, like a costume, cannot be copyrighted. The drawings of Left Shark would be relevant only if my client had copied them in preparing his sculpture. But he didn’t copy the drawings – not least because he’s never seen them. My client saw only the Left Shark costume. As I explained in my previous letter, the Left Shark costume is an uncopyrightable useful article, and my client is free to copy it.As for the "separable elements"? Sprigman does a nice job with the lawyerly version of "WTF are you talking about?"
Second, you suggest that “conceptually separable elements” of the Left Shark costume may be copyrightable. Would you please tell me which elements of the Left Shark costume you believe to be conceptually separable from the costume as a whole? The dorsal fin, perhaps? The gills? The teeth?Finally, rather than just "drop" the issue, Perry's lawyers said that Sprigman could call them up and they could discuss a license. But, of course, without a copyright there is nothing to license. This gets back to the mistaken belief by some that someone must own everything and thus you absolutely have to get permission. That's not true.
When I look at the Left Shark costume, I don’t see “conceptually separable elements.” I see a shark costume. I am obliged to admit that, unlike any shark I’ve seen, the Left Shark costume has legs (and a quick Google search reveals that many other shark costumes have legs). But that doesn’t make the Left Shark costume copyrightable. The Left Shark costume has legs because the person inside of it has legs. The legs are not “conceptually separable” from the Left Shark costume. They are integral to its function as a costume.
Perry's lawyers build on this to argue that the only reason the Left Shark is valuable is because of Perry, and thus she should be able to control all the benefits from Left Shark. Except, as Sprigman points out, that's almost entirely bullshit. Perry didn't make the Left Shark a thing, but rather the internet made it a thing.
Likewise, I disagree with your suggestion that Katy Perry owns rights in Left Shark because any commercial value my client’s sculptures may have “derives solely from the public’s association of them with Ms. Perry.” That statement misunderstands the source of whatever (probably scant) commercial value Left Shark may possess. No one knew that one of the sharks dancing next to Katy Perry during the Super Bowl halftime show was Left Shark until the Internet told us so. The Internet decided that Left Shark’s flubbed dance moves were hilarious. It gave Left Shark his name, and then it made him into a meme. Left Shark isn’t really about Katy Perry.There's even more in Sprigman's letter, but I actually wanted to focus on something else, which Fernando Sosa mentioned in his post about all of this. You see, after all of this blew up, Perry's lawyers also tried to file for a trademark on Left Shark. They pretty quickly gave that up (filed on February 6th and abandoned on February 10th). But here's the really crazy thing: they used Fernando Sosa's own image of his 3d printed shark as a part of their trademark application.
Oh, and Sosa is now back to offering his 3d printed shark for sale, as he seems confident that Perry's lawyers have no leg to stand on.
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Filed Under: 3d printing, copyright, fernando sosa, katy perry, left shark, trademark
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'It's only wrong when other people do it'
Ah blatant hypocrisy in action, gotta love it.
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Re: 'It's only wrong when other people do it'
Lawyers.
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Re: Re: 'It's only wrong when other people do it'
Like that idiot billionaire that is trying to make it so only the rich can vote.
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Re: Re: Re: 'It's only wrong when other people do it'
Yes indeed, it seems that we the people are actually a mob, and that if we try to influence policy by voting, we're initiating mob rule.
And mobs are bad, right?
Keep voting, but not for people who think like that.
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Re: 'It's only wrong when other people do it'
Just ask William Patry, who one day woke up to find his 4 clauses, a draft, found their way into the law under Fair Use.
It's atypical of those who abuse copyright: what's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine.
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Re: 'It's only wrong when other people do it'
And in their small minds it is the audience who feel "entitled", not themselves.
Slight tangent ... I suspect this is action is the production company lawyers who have the copyright to said production in their back pocket and that Katy had no say in the matter nor consulted. Probably business as usual.
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Re: 'It's only wrong when other people do it'
It's the American way!
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Re: 'It's only wrong when other people do it'
Katy Perry owns Left Shark. This guy is 3d-printing Left Shark. Therefore Katy Perry owns the printed item, and any photos of it... so where's the problem?
Disclaimer: I don't actually believe this, but it seems to be a logical, consistent view from their perspective. Greedy and amoral... but not hypocritical.
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Isn't Hypocrite every lawyers middle name?
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I didn't know it was about Katy Perry up to when I read the first TD article about it. I originally saw a blurry gif that showed the left shark completely screwing up the performance but I never bothered to pay attention on who was on stage (the gif had a zoom on the sharks so Katy kind of was secondary). Funny thing I even remember the palm trees on the scenario but I had to go back and watch the entire thing again to see Perry doing whatever she was doing.
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http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/copyrigh.html
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http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/text.jsp?file_id=295578
One apparent contradiction is that it specifically lists dancers as covered performers under the treaty, yet the phrase "fixed in phonograms" keeps popping up -- which would seemingly preclude virtually all but tap dancers.
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"Perry's lawyers have no leg to stand on"
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Re: "Perry's lawyers have no leg to stand on"
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In the RIAA's copyright infringement lawsuit against Usenet.com, they attached a purloined copy of the entire Slyck.com's "Guide to the Usenet Newsgroups" - ignoring Slyck's own copyright mark and therefore ironically committing an act of infringement in their attempt to stop another act of infringemnent.
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There is tthat aspect, yes. But as a hypothetical case...
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Well played, MISTER Sosa; well played.
I don't have a beef with the entertainers themselves (well, maybe with Kanye West, but then again he is not entertaining). I don't believe that the Katy Perrys and Taylor Swifts out there are truly behind these incidents. other than maybe saying "OK" when their representation says "Hey, we can make us you more money if we do this."
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Re: Well played, MISTER Sosa; well played.
'their' shit gets beyond their own personal control, and they are -to a large extent, either wittingly or unwittingly- merely along for the ride...
merely one in a list of a hundred reasons why such a situation is immoral on any number of levels...
but, hey, they got millions, and i -a moral paragon *cough*cough*- am a cubicle slave...
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Re: Re: Well played, MISTER Sosa; well played.
Their labels, lawyers and managers have probably made more money from their music than they have. They are just the geese that lay golden eggs, and so must be protected at all costs.
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Re: Re: Well played, MISTER Sosa; well played.
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Re: Well played, MISTER Sosa; well played.
...which makes them behind these incidents. You are responsible for what your representatives do in your name.
Also, even if they weren't aware when the actions were first taken, they certainly are now -- so they're actively responsible by not telling their lawyers to back off.
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Re: Re: Well played, MISTER Sosa; well played.
(They wanted out of the contract anyway at that point, but if you go against them, they have proven that they will do everything they can to bury you.)
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Trolling the copyright trolls
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Re: Trolling the copyright trolls
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No Leg to Stand On
You made a mistake there. We are talking about sharks, the Left Shark and the lawyer sharks, which in this case have no fins to swim with!
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Not just abandoned
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I think you are confused.
The law is a little more complicated than you realize.
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I can't wait...
It would appear they were trying to do this so it would apply Federally: "If a person can establish an aspect of his or her identity as a trademark, protection may be provided by Federal law."
Of course, there would be that pesky problem of getting the Left Shark declared a person, but these are lobotomized entertainment lawyers, so that wouldn't stop them.
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You don't think do you....
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It's all depends on where you're standing...
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Re: It's all depends on where you're standing...
In the theater world, using "left" and "right" in reference to a stage is short for "stage left/right" and is always from the perspective of the performer. I've likely spent far too much time around stages, since this was how I instinctively interpreted "left shark," so when I was looking at videos trying to figure out what all the fuss was about, I was watching the wrong shark.
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Left Shark
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Re: Left Shark
but her people to. They need to make the music to go with the visual. no visual -> no katy perry
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no visual -> no katy perry and that is not music
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Re: Re: Re: Left Shark
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Greenberg Traurig
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Left Shark
Second of all Left shark was just a shark until the internet named him and gave him vaule! NO WAY KATY PERRY PLANED FOR THAT SHARK TO MESS UP THE DANCE ROUTINE.And thats the only reason left shark got famous! Funny how clients/lawyers lie!Crazy how they tried to copyright Left shark after the fact with my mans 3d design and the internets name! He should be suing her!! LOL Mickey Mouse is a mouse but was sketched,drawn created and NAMED before the public ever seen or heard about Mickey Mouse thats why its a protected image/name. If you ever need a smart professional Entertainment Consultant contact me 404 692 4090 Reggie Rocko
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