In latest Pepe the Frog dispute, its creator sues Infowars over poster
The poster at the center of the lawsuit.
The artist behind Pepe the Frog continues his legal efforts to take his cartoon creation back from the alt-right and conspiracy theorists with a copyright suit against Infowars, a website that rails against “the loony left” and the “deep state.”
The suit, filed on Monday by California cartoonist Matt Furie, claims the website violated his copyright by selling a “MAGA” poster that includes Pepe the Frog, Infowars founder Alex Jones, President Donald Trump and other conservative figures. TechDirt, the Hollywood Reporter, Gizmodo, the San Francisco Chronicle and Ars Technica have stories. MAGA is the acronym for Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.”
Pepe is intended to represent “peace, togetherness, and fun,” but the image was co-opted in 2015 by various fringe groups connected with the alt-right, the lawsuit says.
Furie is represented by lawyers from WilmerHale. The suit seeks an injunction and damages for copyright infringement.
Jones said in a YouTube statement that Pepe’s image on the poster is protected by the First Amendment because it is transformative of the original copyrighted work. He also spoke with The Associated Press. “My listeners understand this is all frivolous,” Jones said. “The law is on our side.”
Images of Pepe the Frog as created by Furie.
TechDirt sees “a passable fair use argument” but suggests Infowars might want to avoid a court decision. Judges considering a fair use claim “can twist the four factors test in all sorts of ways to reach the outcome they’d prefer—and Furie is definitely a lot more sympathetic here than Alex Jones,” the article says.
TechDirt, however, objects to “copyright creep” in which copyright law is used to chill speech on moral grounds rather than to protect economic interests.
Furie had previously threatened a copyright suit against the author of a self-published children’s book that was intended to teach conservative views. The book includes a frog named Pepe who opposes a bearded alligator named Alkah. The book author agreed to a settlement before the suit was filed.
