Ben Dunn of Antarctic Press has been known for his parody creations for the comic company throughout the years with classic hits like “Steam Wars” and “Notzilla.” It came as no surprise for fans of the indie work that Ben Dunn was doing a Red Sonja parody book called Blue Sonya, which he hoped to release soon. However, Red Sonja, LLC took notice of the parody and threatened Antarctic Press, claiming trademark violations of the work.
Blue Sonya was clearly meant as a parody of Red Sonja, using cutesy drawings in bikini armor with a blue-haired maiden with a sword to market the upcoming work. However, Red Sonja, LLC apparently thought this parody was too close to the original for trademark purposes. A letter to Antarctic Press stated:
It has recently come to our attention that each of you and your company Antarctic
Press (hereinafter collectively, “You”) have and/or further intend, for Your own respective commercial purposes, without authorization or other permission from RSL, to manufacture, market, advertise, promote, display, distribute, publish and offer for sale an unauthorized and infringing “Blue Sonya” comic book series and/or graphic novel featuring a character (the “Infringing Character) which is based on and strikingly similar to the established Red Sonja Character (See Exhibit “A’ for examples). Please be advised that by engaging in such conduct, You are and would be violating the Copyright and Trademark Laws of the United States and infringing upon the valuable rights of RSL.
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The infringement is so apparent and evidently deliberate that no detailed analysis is
required. You are using the Red Sonja character, changing her hair from red to blue and titling her “Blue Sonya”, to confuse the market with a competitive comic book series and/or graphic novel. By such conduct You are and intend further to, among other matters and without limitation, engage in copyright infringement, unfair competition, false designation of origin and infringement dilution of Red Sonja’s trademark in violation of applicable federal, state and international laws.
The letter went on to order Antarctic Press to cease publication of Blue Sonya, provide any accounting of sales of the product, and assure Red Sonja, LLC that they will not be infringing upon the trademark in the future.
Ben Dunn from Antarctic Press posted about the matter to Facebook, stating, “So I got a cease and desist letter for Blue Sonya.”
Soon after, Ben Dunn posted about the future of the Antarctic Press project, saying, “BLUE SONYA is DEAD. Long live KENDRA! Yes. I am afraid that the BLUE SONYA character can no longer be used by me. But fear not, she will under go a re-design and be renamed KENDRA: SELL SWORD. This should appease the litigation gods (I hope). I wanted to to take time to thank you all for your support and for all the tremendous fan art but it is time to move on and it is my hope that you will continue in your support. Stay tuned as we will be back!”
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He updated on Facebook later, posting a new character design with blue hair and a sword, with very different-looking armor that definitely could not be confused with Red Sonja as it looks completely original. Ben Dunn said, “Introducing KENDRA: sword maiden blue! She is a sword maiden blue who has magical armor and a sword. My brother suggested CYAN. What do you think?”
Fans seemed delighted with the announcement of Kendra: Sell Sword and wished Ben Dunn luck with creating a good story with the character.
So far, Red Sonja, LLC has not commented further, though others have noted that parody is protected by law anyway, and the character names could be fought to keep without repercussion. Robert E. Howard’s original character is also in the public domain, adding further muddiness to Red Sonja, LLC’s true legal standing to take any action against Antarctic Press.
What do you think of Red Sonja, LLC sending a cease and desist to Antarctic Press over Blue Sonya? Leave a comment and let us know.
Cerulian Sonja
Very lame. It would spark interest in the original property but nope.
Also, I’m surprised parody isn’t protected in the US
Parody IS protected under fair use laws.
But companies are more than willing to thumb their nose at that law, because winning a lawsuit with a big studio would cost more than the parody is worth.
Disney’s been using that to kill artists for over 50 years.
Will preorder
Sound promising, I would love to see it if I have a chance.
Send them this from the USTPO:
“Likewise, prospective purchasers expect goods, such as dolls, labeled with the name of a fictional public-domain character to represent the character. Thus, a mark that identifies a fictional public-domain character used on goods such as dolls is merely descriptive because it describes the purpose or function of the goods.”