You know, I didn’t think I would have to report this story because I assumed it would go away. When we were all swept up in PAX news, there was a shocking little story about a cafe owner, Ramar Larkin Jones. He had received threats of legal action from The Pokemon Company after he made some posters featuring Pikachu and Snivy to promote an unofficial, Pokemon themed party that he had been throwing to celebrate PAX since 2011. Pokemon Co. cited copyright infringement in the use of its intellectual property to support a fan event where money was collected.
This type of thing is common enough: we see Nintendo send out cease and desist notices all the time when people upload YouTube videos featuring game footage without their permission. Accordingly, Jones immediately canceled the event and refunded the $2 fee he had collected to cover the cost of putting it on. We all thought that the story would end there, but the Pokemon Company has demanded $4000 dollars from Jones to settle the suit.
Jones stated, “I cancelled the party, refunded everyone the two dollars I charged to help cover all the prizes I bought for the cosplay contest and smash bros tournament. Pokemon wants $4,000 that I just don’t have. I told them I would pay it over a year and they denied that. They want it now within the next 45 days.” Jones started a GoFundMe campaign and successfully raised the money to get The Pokemon Company off of his back, and now there are 112 fewer Pokemon fans in the states.
Source: NintendoLife