The MVP of the Super Bowl halftime show (and our hearts) was Katy Perry’s slightly off-tempo backup dancer, Left Shark. Orlando-based sculptor Fernando Sosa created 3-D prints of Left Shark, and was selling the design online for $24.99 (the universally agreed-upon price of happiness).
Like a fumbling shark awkwardly drawn to chum, though, Perry’s lawyers followed the irresistible scent of possible IP theft. On Wednesday, her attorneys slapped Sosa with a demand to cease and desist all trafficking of Left Shark merchandise.
“Your unauthorized display and sale of this product infringes our client’s exclusive rights in numerous ways,” the letter read, asserting that Katy Perry is the sole owner of the clumsy, genderless shark’s likeness. Recognizing the marketing value of a cease and desist demand from Katy Perry’s lawyers, Sosa posted the letter to instagram:
Sosa took the Left Shark design down from his online store, only to make it available over at Thingverse as a free download.
“So I probably will go back to doing pieces about [Kim Jong Un] and other world leaders.” Sosa said. “All this lawyer crap is very stressful.” Which means we probably won’t see any Sosa designs inspired by Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction. Also, it doesn’t look like the Indiegogo campaign to develop replica Left Shark costumes has met the same fate, as it’s still going strong.