Katy Perry bites in 3D shark model row
Lawyers representing singer Katy Perry have sent a cease-and-desist letter to a 3D printing start-up, claiming that a model of a shark sold on its website infringes her copyright.
Law firm Greenberg Traurig sent the letter, dated February 3, and requested that Shapeways, an online marketplace, remove Left Shark, a model of a shark made by artist Fernando Sosa using a 3D printer, from its site.
‘Left shark’ is the name people have used to describe a backing dancer, dressed as shark, who attracted attention for his bad dancing during Katy Perry’s performance at the Super Bowl.
Perry’s lawyers, citing copyright infringement, have requested that the website stops allowing any further sales and hand in any infringing material to its office.
The letter states: “We represent Katy Perry, the owner of the intellectual property depicted or embodied in connection with the shark images and costumes portrayed and used in Katy Perry’s Super Bowl 2015 half-time performance.”
Sosa has published the letter on his official Instagram account.
It continued: “Our client never consented to your use of its copyrighted work and intellectual property, nor did our client consent to the sale of the infringing product
“Your unauthorised display and sale of this product infringes our client’s exclusive rights to reproduce display and distribute its copyrighted images under the US Copyright Act.”
Shapeways confirmed to WIPR that it removed the Left Shark model from the website, but said it was "disappointing" to receive a cease-and-desist letter.
A spokesperson for the company said: "We love our community and always want to support what they create, but they know we take our legal responsibilities seriously."
Sosa has so far not responded to a request for comment, but he told news broadcaster CNN that “it looks like dictators and world leaders like Putin and Kim Jong-un or Chris Christie are much easier to deal with”.
