A Lawsuit Against Archie & SEGA America Has Been Filed By Narrative Ark Entertainment

57 Comments

1. Oh, come on, again?

   1. I swear if another Archie related lawsuit happens during Sonic’s 30th anniversary, they’d only be two more away from a free frozen yogurt.

2. Is there a list of all the Court cases that archie, SEGA, and sonic the hedgehog have been in?

3. Looks like Narrative Ark was granted a trademark for the name “MAMMOTH MOGUL” a couple weeks ago.

   https://trademarks.justia.com/870/83/mammoth-87083129.html

   I’m pretty sure the comic book character Mammoth Mogul both belongs to Ken Penders (making him unusable) and constitutes as prior art, given he’s over a decade old.

   1. Of course, it’s hard to say whether or not the trademark for Mammoth Mogul was actually for something else or if this is somehow a trademark for Ken/Archie’s Mammoth Mogul character filed somewhere else.

   2. Why can’t companies talk before jumping to lawsuits? It would solve so many problems.

      1. because Lawsuits = easy money.

         or at least that’s what I believe they think. I can’t think of any other explanation.

   3. Mammoth Mogul was made by Scott Fulop.

   4. Mogul was created by Scott Fulop, not Penders.

   5. Penders doesn’t own Mammoth Mogul. He was created by Scott Fulop and the rights for that character defaulted over to Fulop following the last lawsuit. So I’d assume Fulop is doing something now, but I’m not sure why.

      1. According to that trademark page, it would be used for purposes such as comic book related or other means of entertainment. But if that’s the case, I don’t get it, how much could you really do with one character named “Mammoth Mogul”? Don’t think it’s a good idea to try and create an entire entertainment franchise centered around a Vandal Savage rip-off.

         1. @Hero Who says that Mammoth Mogul would be the only character? He could be the villain in a whole new venture with other heroes and villains, for instance. Either way, the character would probably need to be registered.

         2. Well it’s not like I see these kinds of info sheets that often, and there was a lot written there, so there must be a lot more to it than what I took away from it. Still, of all things to focus on, Mammoth Mogul? May as well give Archimedes his own restaurant chain or something.

4. When Sonic speeds by beware the nightmare with just one eye! https://youtu.be/PAFtzLgtocE

   Keep a watchful eye on twitter kids 😉 cause I’d lay a small wager on who’s really behind this one 😆 just my thoughts anyway hahaha

5. I just asked Ken Penders if he knows anything about it. I’m still waiting for an answer.

   1. Same here. I also asked if he knew anything about the trademark too,

   2. Ditto. With so many people pressing him for an answer, odds are he’ll say something pretty soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was involved in this….yet at the same time, I almost have a sinking suspicion that he might not be involved also. Again, it’s hard to say right now. But considering some of his cryptic remarks over the last year, odds are he is a part of this somehow, or at least had some prior knowledge of what was going down.

6. What the hell? Why now? The comics are good, we have a good game coming out, a possibly good game coming out and this shit happens.

   1. Oddly enough, the first shitstorm lawsuit also happened around Sonic’s 20th anniversary, and he got a nice big reboot for a present. I doubt this is deliberate, but whether they realize this or not, they’re seriously opening up a bunch of fans’ old wounds, rubbing salt over over them, and then jabbing more knives into the wounds to stir all the salt around for good measure. Seriously, WHY MUST THIS HAPPEN IN ALMOST THE SAME EXACT FASHION AS LAST TIME!? THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!

7. Found some info about the case here. It looks like it was filed by Scott Fulop.

   https://www.pacermonitor.com/case/15373746/Narrative_Ark_Entertainment_LLC_v_Archie_Comic_Publications,_Inc_et_al

   1. This link doesn’t seem to work for me.

8. This is one of the reasons why I think SEGA should start letting their comic characters appear in the games.

   1. If anything, this is a very strong argument against that.

9. Seems like Archie and SEGA can’t catch a break even after the Penders fiasco. Jeez, where’s Phoenix Wright when you need him? XD

10. Sigh, well the comics were nice while they lasted. XP

    Seriously, if Penders isn’t involved in this at all, I’m going to be seriously surprised.

    I really hope this won’t be the nail in the coffin that finally kills the comic series, it’s been doing so well and has been going in such a great direction, I don’t want to see it end because of something as stupid as this.

    1. Well, Penders wasn’t involved in the slightest. I honestly have no idea what’s going to happen now. It’s all uncharted territory at this point. XP

11. I’d like to point out that the statute of limitations for copyright infringement, as of 2014, is about three years per individual infringement (http://patentlyo.com/patent/2014/05/copyright-preclude-limitations.html). For those who aren’t familiar with legalese, the statute of limitations dictates how long somebody has to initiate certain legal actions like lawsuits against another person or company– when it ends, you can’t legally initiate lawsuits against that person or company for their actions anymore.

    With that in mind, when was the last time Mammoth Mogul was used in an Archie comic? If he was last used more than three years ago, unless I’m missing something here, this LLC likely doesn’t have a case.

    1. While I can’t say for certain, I think Mogul’s only appearances in the past three years were in Sonic Legacy Books 3 and 4, which were reprint collections released in 2014. He definitely didn’t make any new appearances in the past three years, though.

       1. Ah. Well, the LLC could sue Sega for the reprints, but I doubt they’d get a lot of money out of it considering that Mogul hasn’t been used extensively. Not to mention that Sega and Archie could argue that they own the rights to all of the old comics provided that they make no changes to their contents– a typical rule of thumb for comic publishers and copyrights.

          So yeah, this lawsuit is pointless. Probably just trying to occupy Sega’s time and money when it needs to focus both on making a brighter future for Sonic. If its Penders, knowing how petty and spiteful the guy is, he’s probably trying to put a damper on the festivities surrounding the 25th anniversary and new games. Not cool, mysterious LLC, not cool.

    2. For what I remember and for what I read the last appearance of Mogul in a new story was in issue 220 in december 2010, I could be wrong though

    3. Wasn’t Mogul in the Silver Age miniseries? How long ago was that?

12. Hope is nothing serious, at least nothing that will drastically change the comic , I like the new universe and while not every issue has been stellar it seems they’re heading to greater things.

13. Ken Penders said he wasn’t behind this:

    “@SonikkuEkkusu I suspect one of the other freelancers has finally decided to move forward. I wouldn’t be surprised if more do.”

    Source
    https://www.twitter.com/KenPenders/status/760629826017386497

    1. “@X234Kyle @SonikkuEkkusu I suspect I will be involved one way or another as I rounded up several freelancers who never signed any contracts.”

       Source
       https://twitter.com/KenPenders/status/760645763407884288

14. As SonikkuEkkusu pointed out, Penders doesn’t appear to be responsible for this. If anything, he’s as in the dark as the rest of us:

    “@X234Kyle I have no knowledge of what’s in the filing. I can only speculate. I suspect both sides will try to drag me into the mess.”

    Source
    https://twitter.com/X234Kyle/status/760643285228498945

    1. I’d say he’s responsible, albeit indirectly, as he established precedent. And, as noted above, he says he “rounded up several freelancers who never signed any contracts,” so if Fulop was one of them…

       1. Yeah but that would only drag him in as a witness. Unless this was all part of some sort of diabolical plot for Penders to indirectly sue Archie again or something by using other creators, I seriously doubt he was planning for this to happen. He might have anticipated it, but it’s not like he was waiting to be dragged to court out of nowhere. After all, the guy’s gotta write his totally super special awesome totally not-Sonic-related that will definitely be finished at some point, maybe, hey look at my pretty app I spent time on instead of the comic I’m promoting!

          1. *totally not-Sonic-related comic

15. According to sites via Google, “Narrative Ark Entertainment” has been around for two years, but they apparently haven’t done much since there’s little information on them. It doesn’t feel like Penders since I doubt he started a company for the sole purpose of suing two years later. Where does Scott Fulop work nowadays.

16. For crying out loud Archie, WHY COULDN’T YOU JUST HAVE PROPER DOCUMENTATION OF ALL OF YOUR COPYRIGHTS AND CONTRACTS!!?? Geez, it’s like a stupid mistake from the 90’s just keeps coming back to haunt us over and over again. XP

17. Well, at the very least I doubt this will effect the release of current comics. Since Mogul isn’t being used in the new canon. It may effect re-releases though.

    1. @SSJ22TERRIS Don’t think we were getting pre-reboot reprints any time soon. The last time we had an Archives was, what? 2015? Same with Universe.

       1. I think they aren’t reprinting issues from the old continuity because Archie doesn’t want to pay royalties to Ken Penders. I believe royalties are why Penders is in another legal dispute with Archie.

18. The comics are finally getting back on track now, with less delays and the graphic novels being released. Just leave them alone! And if Ken Penders has anything to do with this, go back to your awful Lara-su Chronicles and don’t come back!

    http://kenpenders.com/lara-su_chronicles/TL-SC_Cover_Art_R1_Web.jpg

    Feast your eyes on the best, totally-not-porn, art in history!

    1. …HOW? How could someone who drew humans so decently in outside works make something look SO STATIC AND LIFELESS!? I swear, Penders must have been infected by the same space alien disease that infected Frank Miller and made him go absolutely bonkers, because it still baffles me how someone with talent could seemingly loose every bit of it each year.

    2. Oh wow…this looks horrible. TERRIBLE. It reminds me of old NES era boxarts.

19. Who the fuck are these guys I’ve never heard of them?

    1. Apparently they’ve only been around for 2 years. So if that’s to be believed, then their sole existence was to sue Archie and Sega for something that was made for a comic book that hasn’t been used in 6 years?…how can that even work!?

20. Look out guys, Penders saw this article and thinks we’re “spreading around misinformation”, even though we barely know anything and are scraping for any bit of info that could make this clearer. So Ken, if you know something that we don’t, then please, DO enlighten us. Nobody is making any claims here.

    1. People were posting in the comments here saying that Ken made Mogul, and that he’s probably involved in this case. This is almost certainly the misinformation he’s referring to, since neither of those things are true.

       1. Yeah, just picked up on the context a while ago. Even when I’m not trying to make bold claims about Penders’ involvement I’m still letting my passion get the better of me. I love these comics so much, I don’t want them to go away because of more stupid lawsuits. It was just getting back up on it’s feet.

21. It’s amazing how much bullshit can happen to Sonic, yet Mario is stable because he has ONE medium, rescues Peach from Bowser in 2D everyday, and doesn’t utter so much as a single sentence.

    And while this is going on, I’m having a hard time in my own personal life.

22. Frivolous, baseless lawsuits are expensive and will only damage whatever reputation you have.

    Protip: Cut your losses and move on, before you make things worse for yourself.

23. Considering the Sabrina the teenage witch incident a while back and the newer trend to never allow any company to not pay royalty, I’d say this is normal. Sonic comics make me cringe so I’m down/ don’t care for it going away. If only another cringy part of sonic media would go away then I would be proud to be a fan.

    1. Like SA2?

24. Ken Penders tweeted about this article. I wish people would just leave Archie alone, you made content for them and now you are saying they can’t use it?

    Archie is a small company that hardly has enough money to make more than one or two comics at a time. If Sonic is giving them this much legal trouble, they may at some point just drop it and cut their losses. At some point, all this legal trouble won’t be worth their time.

    I hope that day never comes, the reboot is the only good thing from the last lawsuit, and now there is no closure to what happened before the reboot.

25. Archie stories already created, Sega uses characters based on popular culture. With no more use to present the work of others without permission.

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