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<b><i>Online Extra:</b></i> Cartoon Network Not Liable for Using Video Gamer's Likeness
A federal judge in Trenton has dismissed a suit filed against The Cartoon Network by a video gamer who was parodied on one of the network's programs.
The network admitted that a character in its program 'The Regular Show' is patterned after Billy Mitchell, who once held record high scores in 'Donkey Kong' and 'Pac-Man.' But the parody is entitled to First Amendment protection under the transformative use test because the character is not a literal representation of Mitchell, U.S. District Judge Anne Thompson of the District of New Jersey ruled in'Mitchell v. The Cartoon Network, Inc.
Mitchell's suit claimed that his likeness was misappropriated by a character in 'The Regular Show' named Garrett Bobby Ferguson (GBF). The show depicts the adventures of two anthropomorphic animals, a bird named Mordechai and a raccoon named Rigby. GBF is depicted as a giant floating head that has long black hair and a black beard and is a master at a game called 'Broken Bonz.'
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