Penders v. Sega
From Sega Retro
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| Kenneth W. Penders, II v. Sega of America, Inc. et al. |
|---|
| Court: United States District Court for the Central District of California[1] |
| Argued: 2011-09-26[1] |
| Decided: 2012-02-23 (dismissed)[1] |
| Citation(s): 2:2011CV08173[1] |
| Judge(s) sitting: Otis D. Wright II[1] |
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Kenneth W. Penders, II v. Sega of America, Inc. et al., 2:2011CV08173, is a 2012 case in which comic artist Ken Penders sued Sega of America over the ownership of certain characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series.
History
In January 2009, former Archie Comics artist Ken Penders began copyrighting various stories, characters, and artwork that he created for the company's Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, with these claims being officially certified in April 2010 by the United States Copyright Office. After declaring that he would "use every legal means at my disposal to protect and preserve" his contested works, Archie Comics filed a lawsuit against Penders in the Fall of 2010 in an attempt to retain their copyright holdings.
On September 26, 2011, the court dismissed the case without prejudice, stating that Penders could re-file the action after the conclusion of his other lawsuit, Archie v. Penders. Instead, Penders decided to re-file the same action on October 3 in the same district. On February 23, 2012, Judge Wright dismissed the case without prejudice.[1]
Legal
Two years later in the Fall of 2012, Archie Comics fired and entirely replaced its legal team. Following a reported settlement between the two parties, many characters created by Ken Penders abruptly ceased to appear in the comics.