Lawsuit: My Left Shark…Your Left Shark? Or Katy Perry’s?

February 17th, 2015. By Admin

Costume capers and the dancing “Left Shark”—ringing any bells? Think Super Bowl XLIX…Kate Perry’s half time show…and those dancing sharks. What is it about Super Bowl half time shows? This year, apparently Perry’s sidekicks—the dancing sharks—weren’t groovin’ to the same tune, which led to some interesting choreography. The “Left Shark” decided to ad lib a bit—or maybe the valium had kicked in—who knows—but he/it did its own thing which reportedly went viral on the Internet. Of course. Shortly thereafter—as in days, I think, an enterprising designer from Florida, one Fernando Sosa, started selling models of the “Left Shark” on the 3-D marketplace Shapeways. And, Katie Perry’s lawyers thought this a little fishy.

While Sosa was not the only one capitalizing on the “Left Shark’s” 15 minutes of fame, he did find himself on the end of a cease and desist letter ordering him to remove the $24.99 shark from Shapeways. While Sosa complied, he is offering a 3-D pattern of the shark as a free download on MarketBot’s Thingiverse site.

According to my favorite news site—The New York Post—Sosa sold about 14 of his 3-D-printed Left Shark models within 24 hours, before they were taken down. All the money was returned, and production was halted, he told Marketwatch.

“I did propose licensing, but the lawyer turned me down saying they don’t have anything set up,” Sosa said. That was a bit slow on their end. Sosa said lawyers informed him that the beach balls and palm trees dancing alongside Perry were also off limits. Dancing palm trees… just how much Bud Light had people had by half time?

The issue is who owns the costume copyright. According to Eric Goldman, a law professor specializing in copyright issues at Santa Clara University, that’s not so clear. If the design of the costume is unique it can be copyrighted. There’s a dilemma just waiting for a court room.

“Just because [Perry] was dancing near the shark doesn’t give her ownership,” Goldman told MarketWatch. She would need to have registered her copyright for the shark costume or provide written proof that one of her employees designed it before she could move forward with a lawsuit, he said. (really?)

Whether Shapeways or Sosa could be held liable if a lawsuit were to be filed remains a gray area because it’s not clear whether Perry has filed copyright paperwork or if the costume was based on someone else’s design, Goldman said.

You know, this whole costume copyright thing has more potential than the dancing sharks that spawned it. I think there may be a bright future ahead for copyright attorneys.

This was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2015 at 5:31 pm and is filed under Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.