Syfy's new reality show Dream Machines was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit one week before its series premiere. According to the artist plaintiff, the series infringes the copyright in his artwork.
Plaintiff Preston Asevedo is a professional artist and illustrator who, in 2005, allegedly conceived of and created a two-dimensional copyrighted artwork entitled "Comedy Tragedy Skulls." (Imagine traditional comedy and tragedy masks possessed by Satan.) Recently, defendant Parker Brothers, owners of defendant Parker Brothers Concepts, became the subject of a reality television show called Dream Machines airing on NBC Universal's Syfy network. Dream Machines revolves around the Parker Brothers defendants and their crew as they take vehicles seen in film, TV and comic books and turn them into real one-of-a-kind dream machines.
According to the complaint, the Parker Brothers defendants unlawfully used Asevedo's "Comedy Tragedy Skulls" on, inter alia, their store's sign (which is featured on Dream Machines), as well as on t-shirts worn by the Parker Brothers during filming and on the "dream machines" themselves. Here is a side-by-side comparison from the complaint:
Asevedo's complaint goes on to say that "the infringing use of Plaintiff's Artwork on the television show is so pervasive that it is rare for 30 seconds to pass on the 40+ minute show without the infringing work appearing in one form of another." The allegations against NBC Universal and Syfy are based on the fact that they "host and publish full episodes of the Dream Machines television show evidencing numerous instances of the infringements[.]"
According to Asevedo, he contacted the Parker Brothers defendants prior to filing his lawsuit, who admitted that they used a variation of "Comedy Tragedy Skulls" for their logo and offered to compensate and credit Asevedo. However, according to the complaint, the parties never reached an agreement and Asevedo filed this lawsuit. We will be watching this case, and Dream Machines, with interest.
This article first appeared in Entertainment Law Matters, a Frankfurt Kurnit legal blog.
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