The latest in bizarre copyright lawsuits comes to us thanks to Eric Goldman, who tells the story of the inflatable gorilla company, Scherba, that is suing Google. Why? Because it claims to have a copyright on its inflatable gorillas, seen here:
And, Google dared to run an advertisement that included said gorilla (or one that looks very, very similar) shown here:
And, alas, Scherba is so upset about the use of one of their inflatable gorillas in an ad that it's suing Google. I'm still trying to figure out how this is possibly a copyright lawsuit rather than a trademark one. Can you imagine if you had to get permission from the original manufacturer of every product you used in an advertisement? Think about any ad depicting an office scene or a kitchen scene. It would be a nightmare. Goldman further points out that the Scherba gorilla appears to have more than a passing resemblance to King Kong, and wonders if Google might try to fight back, and try to bust the overall copyright on the inflatable gorilla as bogus.
Still, the bigger question for me is what exactly does Scherba believe it's "lost" here, that it needs to sue Google? It's not as if the ad is somehow going to be a substitute for actually buying inflatable gorillas.
