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Information in this article is about real-life people, companies, and objects, which do not relate to the in-universe Sonic series. |
Between January 2009 and October 2015, the comic writer Ken Penders created or directed a number of lawsuits and legal cases against Sega and Archie Comics Publishing (abbreviated as ACP) related to the rights of his characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series. A number of lawsuits resulted in the creation of a reformed timeline in the comics and the removal of a number of characters created and used by Penders.
Lawsuits
U.S. Copyright Office
A series of lawsuits by Ken Penders filed against Sega/ACP and related subsidiary companies (and vice versa) began with the first case on 1 January 2009. During this time, Copyright was lodged to the U.S. Copyright Office by Penders on various stories, characters, and artworks created by him for Archie Comics Publishing's' Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and spin-off title, Sonic Universe.
On 21 April 2010, the U.S. Copyright Office began certifying Penders' copyright claims, resulting in any Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna stories he had created to be officially recognized and acknowledged by the U.S. Government as his intellectual property. In doing so, Penders stated that he was now in the position "to use any legal means deemed necessary to protect and preserve" his work from the Archie comics, including characters he claimed to have created.[1]
SEGA/Electronic Arts
In 2011, Penders filed a lawsuit against Sega and EA Games for alleged copyright infringement in the video game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood,[2] including the characters of the Nocturnus Clan, with Penders noting their appearance and narrative backstory being too similar to his Dark Legion. It is believed that this similarity is what initially sparked the lawsuit. This eventually led to a massive reboot of the long-running comic series, and the retirement of all its Echidna characters (save for the echidnas created by Sega, such as Tikal and Knuckles) and most non-Sega characters under Penders' claim.
The lawsuit ended in stalemate when the case was dismissed for the second time and upheld in court in October 2013.[3] Although Penders did attempt to address the case with Archie Comics Publishing alongside the current ongoing case, Penders was forced to temporarily limit his legal actions due to the Statute of Limitations. He will be unable to file again unless characters and concepts from Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood are used in the future.
Archie Comics
In response to Penders filing of legal ownership in 2009 and announcement of his own original graphic novel project, Archie Comics proceeded to file a cease-and-desist letter and lawsuit against him in the fall of 2010 in an attempt to retain their copyright holdings of his characters and concepts. As the comic was licensed, everything it had created, including the characters, legally belong to Sega. Although Penders did attempt to address the case of Archie Comics Publishing alongside the Sega/Electronic Arts case, the Statute of Limitations temporarily limited Penders' legal options and actions. Archie originally claimed Penders had signed a "Work for Hire" contract, making everything Penders had created the property of Sega. However, Archie Comic's legal team failed to produce the contract from Penders' time of work at the company, so the lawsuit led to a settlement and ended on 26 June 2013.[4]
Loose ends
In late 2012, all characters created or introduced by Ken Penders were removed from any further use or reference in Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic franchise. Due to story arcs in production at the time in both Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog #243-#246) and Sonic Universe (Sonic Universe #46-#49) heavily featuring characters created by Penders, both books were subject to sudden rewrites (with changes in font sometimes even mid-sentence) and art edits. Sonic the Hedgehog #244-#246 were entirely rewritten to remove dozens of characters from the advertised Knuckles-centric story, Sonic Universe #46-#47 replaced Rob O' the Hedge and Mari-An with the functionally-similar Bow Sparrow and Thorn the Lop, and most of the affected issues were subject to edited cover art, ranging from removed characters to entirely redrawn covers. Additionally, Rob's removal forced the rewriting of Sonic Universe #46's entire Off Panel.
Additionally, reprinted material is books such as Sonic Super Special Magazine #6 and Sonic Super Digest #2 greatly deviated from the content advertised before their release. Both books advertised Chaotix stories (namely the "Return to Angel Island" arc which was intended to be split up between the books), but SSSM #6 instead ran stories from the Iron Dominion story arc and both books avoided reprinting any stories containing work by Ken Penders. The Digest also omitted Julie-Su and Saffron Bee entirely from the Chaotix profiles, and all Penders-created locations on Angel Island were renamed on the included map to generic terms. Additionally, the stories that reprinted in the magazine edited most mentions of the Dark Egg Legion into "Eggman's Army," and an entire page featuring Lien-Da was removed from the Sonic the Hedgehog #209 reprint.
Possible upcoming lawsuits
On 20 October 2015, Ken Penders posted a tweet hinting another lawsuit, possibly directed at Archie Comics Publishing and/or Sega incorporated, and asserted (to the audience) to not blame him "for what happens next". Although it does not mention (opposition) party members or Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog character or continuity specifically, it may be in regards to some comic book issue reprints by ACP which either involves or possibly breaches a term(s) of the previous lawsuit settlement in some way or another.[5]
Others
Penders actions would later inspire fellow former writer Scott Fulop to persue legal action against Archie for unauthorized use of his characters (such as Mammoth Mogul) after his departure and reprinting of his stories and concepts.
Timeline of events
- September 2008 - BioWare releases Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.
- January 2009 - Ken Penders begins filing for Copyright Registrations of his works to the U.S Copyright Office initially with no disclosure.
- 21 April 2010 - Penders' Copyright Registration applications is approved by the US Copyright Office; notifications are sent to both Sega Incorporated and Archie Comics Publishing of Penders' Copyright registration. Both companies given opportunities to challenge the registration application.
- 21 May 2010 - Sega Incorporated and Archie Comics Publishing (ACP) initially fail to respond to the notifications; Penders is notified by the US Copyright Office.
- 1 June 2010 - The US Copyright Office begins officially filing Penders' registrations. Certificates of Registration and legal documents regarding Copyright details are received by Penders.
- July 2010 - Penders begins serving public notification of his Copyright registrations.
- 23 November 2010 - A lawsuit is filed at Penders by the ACP, alleging breach of contract.
- May 2011 - Penders is forced to file a lawsuit against Sega Incorporated and Electronic Arts (EA) due to the Statute of Limitations.
- July 2011 - Both sides submit to Discovery in the ACP v. Penders case.
- August 2011 - Depositions are taken in the ACP v. Penders case.
- 26 September 2011 - Judge Otis Wright dismisses Penders v. Sega/EA case despite both mutual and active agreement between both parties to stay on the case.
- 30 September 2011 - The Penders v. Sega/EA case are refiled by Penders' legal team.
- 24 October 2011 - ACP v. Penders case, originally scheduled to begin October 31, is delayed till January 17, 2012.
- 17 January 2012 - The trial for the ACP v. Penders case is delayed to January 31 as the argument and summary are reviewed by the court.
- February 2012 - Penders v. Sega/ACP are dismissed for the second time.
- May 2012 - An appeal with the CA 9th Appellate Court is filed by Penders regarding his case against Sega Incorporated and Electronic Arts.
- 16 July 2012 - Judge Berman rules against summary judgement in the ACP v. Penders case.
- 29 November 2012 - ACP and and Ken Penders sign a term sheet of agreement.
- April 2013 - Sonic the Hedgehog #247 is released to the public; this marks the final canonical appearance leading up to the Second Genesis Wave.
- 26 June 2013 - ACP and Penders formalize a Settlement Agreement.
- October 2013 - Sonic the Hedgehog #252 is released to the public; the terms of the Settlement Agreement and the Second Super Genesis Wave take effect; mass character purges and continuity re-write begins.
- Late-October 2013 The CA 9th Appellate Court upholds (Judge Wright's) initial ruling; Ken Penders proceeds to explore additional legal options.
- November 2013 - Penders continues work on The Lara-Su Chronicles and begins work on a book concerning the case against Sega Incorporated and Electronic Arts.[6]
Aftermath
The settlement of the case, as noted by Penders, granted ACP limited use of his characters on the limited conditions of (but not limited to) ownership acknowledgement and royalty sum payments. The reasons for ACP's decision not to use them however, remain undisclosed to the public.[7] Regardless of the outcome of both legal cases, much of the Archie Comics Publishing-exclusive Sonic the Hedgehog characters, story and universe created directly by Ken Penders were purged from the continuity at the combined behest of Sega Incorporated and Archie Comics Publishing due to some of the legal established terms of the case. This resulted in the forced-implementation of a continuity reboot of the series and massive story-line changes, much to the dismay of many fans. Notably, the characters created by other creators also vanished from the book, including those of Karl Bollers who has stated that he also owns the characters he created during his tenure as writer and has not been contacted by Archie regarding this.
Due to the Penders v Archie Comic's lawsuit settlement ending in Penders' favor because of ACP failing to produce the relevant contract of Penders' time of work (resulting in a settlement in Penders' favor), other ACP-exclusive characters/stories not created by Ken Penders or Ian Flynn by previous members of the Archie Team (eg. Karl Bollers' 'Mina Mongoose', 'Megan Acorn' and others) were also systematic purged from the continuity in the form of the Super Genesis Wave. This may be relevant (but not limited to) to two primary reasons:
- To ensure similar legal complications do not arise again.
- To keep the comic series' universe and stories more in line with the games at Sega's behest.
Ken Penders continues his work on The Lara-Su Chronicles and is working on a book concerning the case against Sega Incorporated and Electronic Arts and has been open on disclosing further information. Sega Incorporated and Archie Comics Publishing have remained relatively silent on the matter and little information of the case against Ken Penders have been disclosed to the public by said party members.
Mandates
As per the legal settlement of the case, new and increased mandates from Sega Incorporated were put into effect in any and all Sonic the Hedgehog related contents, including (but not limited to) games, television series, films, toys and even comic books. For Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic series specifically, as relevant to the legal case, the following mandates in effect are (but not possibly limited to) as follows:
- Sega-specific original characters are not permitted familial relationships unless already established (like Cream the Rabbit and Vanilla the Rabbit) with some limited exceptions (eg. Charles Hedgehog). ACP-exclusive characters (Sally, Rotor, Bunnie, Antoine) are permitted however.
- Use of Ken Penders characters or any of his content from the Pre-Super Genesis Wave are forbidden (although settlement grants ACP legal use of his creations under limited conditions, reasons for not doing so are not disclosed to the public by either ACP or Sega Inc. as of this time).
- Content from certain games are not permissible:
- Black Doom from Shadow the Hedgehog.
- All characters and content (with the exception of original Sega characters) from Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.
- Replacing said characters with post-incarnations however, is permissible. (eg. Maximillian Acorn → Nigel Acorn).
- Archie Comics Publishing are forbidden to reference Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, Sonic Underground or Sonic X unless granted specific permission from Sega Incorporated.
- ACP is forbidden to using the character Doctor Eggman Nega unless specifically granted permission from Sega Incorporated.
- Sonic's home planet is no longer permitted to be referred to as “Mobius”, be it Light, Dark, Prime or otherwise.
- Only one Metal Sonic is permitted for appearance but no multiples.
- With the exception of the character Nicole allowing effected characters to remember the previous universe, these memories are forced to 'fade' and be rendered irrelevant.
- Character depicitions such as Classic Sonic, Classic Tails, Classic Eggman or any other classic depictions of Sega's characters are not permitted unless permission is given directly from Sega Incorporated. (However some ACP publications have shown scenes of the 'Classic' characters in shadows, silhouettes or bare resemblance to them in flashbacks). With the 25th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise however, this mandate appears to have been lifted.
- Sonic is not allowed to “lose”. He can be 'put down' and experience hardship but is not allowed to completely 'fail'.
- Main and/or significant characters are forbidden in forming intimate or love-relationships. ACP-exclusive characters are permitted however (Bunnie and Antoine) but not with Sega's characters (Sonic the Hedgehog and Sally Acorn).
- Original Sega characters are to conform, stay conformed to their modern designs as of Sonic the Hedgehog #71. None are allowed to change or modify their existing wardrobe or wear any different wardrobe at all, regardless of the story context.
- Sega-exclusive characters cannot be "killed-off", whilst Archie-exclusive characters are not mentioned in this mandate, it remains unclear whether this rule may apply to them also.
An example of established-requirement of censorship of emotion from Sonic the Hedgehog #166 (left: original, right: current)
- Sonic and Sega-exclusive characters are not allowed to show excessive emotion.[8]
While some mandates may be incomplete, other mandates and rules between ACP and Sega may exist but remain undisclosed to the general public due to either private or legal reasons. Some mandates established by Sega Incorporated may also have been present before the advent of Penders' legal cases.
Continuity purge
A number of characters were permanently removed, or suspected permanently removed from the continuity due to the legal settlement as dictated by the ACP/Sega/Electronic Arts vs Penders collective cases.
Permanent removal
A number of characters were permanently removed from the continuity due to the legal settlement and will not return under any circumstances ruled by the settlement. These characters include:
Total: 200
Suspected permanent removal
While several characters were not made by Ken Penders, some are no longer present in the continuity for reasons known or unknown to the public domain. As they do not belong to Penders, such characters may return when the situation is deemed permissible by either Sega or ACP. This include characters which have made recent appearances before the events of the Super Genesis Wave:
Total: 44
Grand total: 244
References
- ↑ Archie Comics Files Federal Lawsuit Against Ken Penders - Retrieved on 12 June 2016
- ↑ http://www.kenpenders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2615 Retrieved on 11 June 2016
- ↑ http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/media/view.php?pk_id=0000011455 - Retrieved on 11 June 2016
- ↑ http://www.kenpenders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2615 Retrieved on 12 June 2016
- ↑ http://www.tssznews.com/2015/10/20/ken-penders-hints-second-lawsuit-in-tweet/ - Retrieved on 11 June 2016
- ↑ http://www.kenpenders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2615 - Retrieved on 11 June 2016
- ↑ http://www.kenpenders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2615 - Retrieved on 11 June 2016
- ↑ Can listing various Sega mandates made for Archie Sonic Comic? - Retrieved on 12 June 2016
External links
- Archie Comics Files Federal Lawsuit Against Ken Penders
- Ken Penders at Mobius Encyclopaedia, the Archie Sonic wiki.