The Pokémon Company is forcing a fan to pay $5,400 for copyright infringement after attempting to throw a Pokémon-themed party.
Ramar Larkin Jones is a cafe manager in Seattle. He has been hosting the Unofficial Pokémon PAX Kickoff Party for the past five years. This year he used images of Pikachu and Snivy in a promotional poster for the party. The Pokémon Company noticed the poster and filed a lawsuit against Jones, arguing that the use of the two Pokémons' images infringed on its copyright.
Careful to avoid trouble, Jones cancelled the party altogether.
"Once I canceled the event, I thought it would be over, thought it'd be dropped," he said. "I talked to a lawyer the Monday after PAX and thought everything was good. I thought the lawsuit was a scare tactic—people were making jokes about it at PAX."
Until that point, there was nothing unusual. Copyright holders send hundreds of cease and desist letters daily to violators and, as long as the infringing material is removed, no further action is taken. For some reason or another, this wasn't the case with Jones.
The Pokémon Company went through with the entire legal process and filed a lawsuit asking Jones to pay $5,400 for cost and attorney fees and to refrain from using the company's copyrighted materials again. Jones consulted a lawyer but did not hire one after he was told that fighting the lawsuit would likely cost more than the requested damages.
With no other option, Jones asked The Pokémon Company to lower the fine to $4,000 and to accept payment in installments. "I can't pay it," he said. "I manage a cafe, and cost of living is super expensive in Seattle. I am hoping I can try to pay it over the course of a year, because I simply want to be done with it."
When asked for feedback, The Pokémon Company spokesperson said that "the case is not settled and we are not in a position to comment further."
