Blehm v. Jacobs, 2012 WL 6700437 (10th Cir.
December 27, 2012). Blehm created a
series of stick figure characters called Penmen. Examples below:
Blehm sued Life Is
Good, a company that developed a character named Jake
Jake gets involved
in many action situations
for copyright
infringement. The district court granted
summary judgment. The 10th
Circuit granted summary judgment, affirming the holding that no reasonable jury
could conclude that Penmen and Jake were substantially similar. The court’s opinion consists largely of a
careful parsing of elements dictated by the idea of a stick figure in action
(unprotectable ideas) and comparing the elements that were the result of
creative choices. The court concluded
that the images were so dissimilar so that no reasonable jury could have found
substantial similarity. Check out the
opinion yourself, you will find 67 side by side illustrations that are fun and
creative. Judge for yourself, but some
of Jake’s poses appear to be “inspired” – others not so much.
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