SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) Wednesday May 14, 2008
A Fairfield artist who claims he created the original inspiration for the popular "SpongeBob" cartoon character on children's television lost a copyright lawsuit before a federal judge in San Francisco today.
U.S. District Susan Illston issued a summary judgment dismissing artist Troy Walker's copyright infringement claim against Nickelodeon Studios Inc., Paramount Studios Inc., Viacom International Inc. and Stephen Hillenburg.
Illston wrote that Walker hadn't proved that a comic strip he drew in 1991, entitled "Mr. Bob Spongee, The Unemployed Sponge," was the basis of the popular Nickelodeon animated show called "SpongeBob SquarePants." The show first aired in 1999.
Illston said that Hillenburg, the creator and producer of the SpongeBob show, had created a sea sponge character named "Bob the Sponge" in 1989, two years before Walker drew his comic strip.
She also said that Walker hadn't proved Hillenburg ever saw his comic strip and that while both characters were humanized sponges, their features, clothing and story lines were different.
"In sum, the court holds that the similarities between the two characters are limited to the stock elements used to humanize a sponge, and that the dissimilarities are so significant that, as a matter of law, defendants are entitled to summary judgment," Illston wrote.
Walker, 41, said he plans to appeal.
"What happened today was a tragedy. The legal system definitely let us down today. SpongeBob is based on my work that I created years before," Walker said.
Nickelodeon spokeswoman Marianne Romano said, "We're very pleased with the outcome of the case."
Romano said SpongeBob SquarePants is one of the most popular series in children's television history and the show's Saturday morning airing is currently the top-rated program among children between the ages of 2 and 11.
Walker's 1991 comic strip consisted of four black-and-white panels. In 1992, he pasted copies of the strip on 1,000 novelty sponges and sold the sponges at Bay Area shopping centers, street fairs, roadside stops and flea markets. He copyrighted the strip in 2003.
Hillenburg, an artist and marine biologist, said in court papers that he created a character called "Bob the Sponge" for an educational comic book while working as an instructor and staff artist at the Orange County Marine Institute in 1989. He said he began developing that character into "SpongeBob" in 1994 while working on another animated show for Viacom.
The SpongeBob television character lives in a pineapple at the bottom of the sea, works as a restaurant cook, has two buck teeth and a pickle-shaped nose and wears a shirt, tie and pants, Illston noted.
Walker's unemployed Bob Spongee lives above ground in a house, has a dot nose and a line for a mouth and is not wearing clothes.
Illston turned down Viacom's bid to require Walker to pay the defense attorney fees. She said, "The court finds that this case was brought in good faith."
