Goth Pre-Teens Around the World Shudder: 'Emily The Strange' Creators Sued In Federal Court for Copyright Infringement

Hmmmm.....

The intrigue around Emily the Strange copycat debate has intensified. Last month, the Berkeley-based producers of the international goth hero, whose likeness graces many a T-shirt and comic book, filed a preemptive lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco. The company, Cosmic Debris, asked for injunctive relief against being sued by the creators of the "Nate the Great" 1970s-era children's book series, whose character Rosamond had an uncanny resemblance to Emily the Strange. Read our article on the lawsuit here.

At the time, Cosmic Debris wouldn't comment about whether they had been threatened with a lawsuit, and the author of "Nate the Great," Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, remained coy about whether she had pending litigation.

But now the other goth-girl Mary Jane shoe has dropped. A lawsuit filed in Sharmat's home state of Arizona clarifies just what Cosmic Debris was trying to head off with its preemptive strike. The new lawsuit brought by Sharmat, now 80, and 94-year old "Nate the Great" illustrator Marc Simont, claims copyright infringement, alleging "Every depiction of 'Emily the Strange' includes copyrighted and protectable elements from Plaintiffs' Rosamond character, including but not limited to, Emily's short dress, dark hair with long square-cut bangs, 'mary jane' shoes, 'posse' of four black cats, persistent strangeness, and fascination with dark themes."

They additionally ask for the court to order the Emily creators to stop copying and republishing Emily the Strange merchandise without consent.
The suit names not only Cosmic Debris and the current creator of Emily merchandise, Rob Reger, but the illustrator of Emily comic books, Buzz Parker, and the Santa Cruz-based artist Nathan Carrico, the creator of an early Emily sticker that is nearly identical to a Rosamond illustration. Additionally named is San Francisco-based Chronicle Books, which published several Emily volumes, and Santa Cruz-based NHS, Inc. which marketed and sold the original Emily skateboard sticker.

Rob Reger had responded last year on blogs that noted the similarity between the two characters that he had learned about the similarity of Carrico's sticker to the Rosamond character years later and then discontinued it. Yet the lawsuit alleges that the Emily used to this day on merchandise is merely a cut-and-paste job of the original sticker image. Read our article on the original controversy here.

The preemptive lawsuit filed by Cosmic Debris defended Emily, saying she is an original take on the decades old theme of a "goth girl," and thus couldn't be found to be an infringement of any one particular such character.

It might be time that Emily fans worldwide start a candle-lit deathwatch, best accompanied by a "posse" of black cats and a "fascination with dark themes."


H/T   |    CourthouseNews.com