https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...up-tells-alt-right-blogs-to-cease-and-desist/
Man who made “Pepe” wants his frog back, and he’ll use copyright to get it
Mike Cernovich won’t pay, threatens “to embarrass the f***” out of Pepe creator.
JOE MULLIN - 9/19/2017, 1:55 PM
Enlarge / A man holds a sign of Pepe the frog, an alt-right icon, during a rally in Berkeley, California in April 2017.
JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images
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Matt Furie created the cartoon character Pepe the Frog in 2005 as a kind of peaceful stoner animal for his comic "Boys Club." By 2008, the frog had become a meme at 4chan. In the 2016 election cycle, though, Pepe became something completely different—an ever-meme of the alt-right. The Anti-Defamation League characterizes Pepe as a hate symbol and has catalogued some of the most viciously racist and anti-semitic examples.
Now Furie wants his comic frog back. After years of letting it slide, Furie has lawyered up and sent demand letters to several alt-right personalities, including white supremacist Richard Spencer, Mike Cernovich, and the subreddit "The_Donald."
Last month, Furie took legal action against a man in Texas who created an Islamophobic version of Pepe for a children's book. That matter reached a settlement. Now, Furie's lawyers have spoken to Vice about his determination to reclaim ownership of the image and the demand letters they have sent out.
"[Furie] was very serious when he said that we wanted to make clear that Pepe was not the property of the alt-right and couldn't be used by the alt-right," Furie lawyer Louis Tompros told Vice. "We've asked them to take [the images] down. That hasn't happened yet, but they're very much on notice. We plan to take action if they don't."
The letters demand that the alt-right commentators remove images and videos including Pepe, including one recently created by Cernovich in which he added Pepe into a video of Hillary Clinton reading a passage from her new book.
"Mr. Furie is entitled to damages for your infringement," the letter states. "After we have received confirmation that you have ceased infringement, we will contact you to discuss what additional information we need from you to calculate the appropriate amount of damages."
Cernovich has taken down the images, but he has also published a blistering response by his lawyer, Marc Randazza, which boasts that Furie "won't see a dime from Mr. Cernovich." The letter says that Furie's letter "wasn't a serious legal threat" and that the image of Pepe qualifies as fair use, because it's "political commentary and satire."
"Should you choose to file suit against Mr. Cernovich, we will be delighted to embarrass the fuck out of you—and set up a malpractice claim by your client against you," writes Randazza.
