Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. v. ComicMix LLC
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
983 F.3d 443 (2020)
- Written by Liz Nakamura, JD
Facts
Oh, the Places You’ll Go! (Go) was a hugely popular book written by the late Theodor Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. (Seuss) (plaintiff) owned the copyrights to Geisel’s works, including Go. Seuss actively markets Go, licenses derivative works, and participates in collaborative projects. In May 2016, without seeking licensing or collaboration permission from Seuss, ComicMix LLC (defendant) created a mashup primer combining science-fiction television program Star Trek with Go, titled Oh, the Places You’ll Boldly Go! (Boldly). In Boldly, ComicMix reproduced the illustrations, aesthetics, message, layout, and textual structure of Go but replaced Seuss’s characters with Star Trek characters. Seuss discovered Boldly after ComicMix started an online crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Seuss then sent a cease-and-desist letter to ComicMix and a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice to Kickstarter. Kickstarter removed the campaign, but ComicMix refused to comply with the cease-and-desist. Seuss then sued ComicMix for copyright infringement. ComicMix challenged, arguing that Boldly was fair-use because (1) it was a transformative work with substantial new content; and (2) it was a parody of Go. The district court held that Boldly constituted fair-use. Seuss appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (McKeown, J.)
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