Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat creators are suing Warner Bros

Warner Bros is one of the biggest copyright enforcers in the world, going after individuals with lawsuits, Google with DMCA takedown requests and websites like The Pirate Bay with blocks – through sponsored groups like the BPI – and yes apparently, when it comes to internet cat memes, it's more than happy to steal content. To help correct that situation, Warner Bros is now being sued, by the creators of Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat.

If you're not aware of Nyan Cat or Keyboard Cat, Let Me Google That For You. For those that don't fancy clicking my sarcastic link, they were cat based internet memes, that had their 15 minutes of fame at different points over the past few years. One played a keyboard and the other was an animated cat, with a body of a pop-tart that sang a repetitive “nyan, nyan, nyan” over and over again.

The problem with Warner Bros throwing these into its Scribblenauts game, is that the creators of both memes have copyright protected them, which makes Warner Bros a copyright infringer – despite its seemingly incessant pursuit of people that infringe on its copyrights.

Yup. That's some cats doing meme things. Source: ZoominTV

“Defendants have used ‘Nyan Cat' and ‘Keyboard Cat,' even identifying them by name, to promote and market their games, all without plaintiffs' permission and without any compensation to plaintiffs,” reads the charge by the creators, who have teamed up to bring joint legal action against Warner Bros.

KitGuru Says: Chances are, this will just result in a settlement by Warner Bros. It's not like it doesn't have decent sized cash reserves for dealing with copyright issues – even if it usually is on the other end of the legal stick.

[Thanks Ars]

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