Dr. Seuss Enterprises sues over crowdfunded comic, 'Oh, the Places You'll Boldly Go!'
Dr. Seuss Enterprises has filed a trademark and copyright lawsuit over a crowdfunded book that is said to combine elements of Star Trek and Dr. Seuss.
The federal suit (PDF), filed last Friday, says webcomics company ComicMix “unabashedly misappropriates” the intellectual property of Dr. Seuss Enterprises with its illustrated book, Oh the Places You’ll Boldly Go. The Hollywood Reporter covered the lawsuit.
The book used Dr. Seuss’ illustration style, characters, prose and themes, the suit alleges. ComicMix had raised $30,000 through Kickstarter to produce the book, the suit says.
The suit includes several illustrations in the new book that are similar to Dr. Seuss illustrations. It also includes some examples of the comic book’s prose, including these:
• “You can get out of trouble, any that’s knotty, because in a pinch you’ll beamed out by Scotty.”
• “Oh boldly you’ll go, and you’ll meet all the best, and some of the worst, as you’ve probably guessed.”
• “Weird things will happen, and they usually do, to starship explorers and their marvelous crew.”
An example from court papers.
