Infowars will donate $ 15,000 to Pepe the Frog's creator to settle a dispute over copyright

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Infowars, the media company run by broadcaster Alex Jones, used an image of Pepe the Frog in a poster sold on his website during the 2016 presidential campaign in the United States.

Matt Furie, creator of Pepe the Frog, sued Infowars for copyright infringement in March 2018. His cartoon character began his life as an innocent character, but was later dubbed a mascot. unofficial rightist.

"I am pleased to announce that the people who sue Infowars about Pepe the Frog have agreed to settle and accept a $ 15,000 license fee," said Robert Barnes, an Infowars lawyer, in a statement. .

"Originally, we had been sued for millions of dollars," added Barnes. "Some people thought we would not defend the case, we did, we would only pay honest license fees, and nothing more."

Louis Tompros, partner at WilmerHale, the law firm representing Furie, rejected this interpretation.

"The description of the regulation by Infowars is at best misleading and, in many ways, completely false," Tompros told CNN by email.

WilmerHale explains in a press release how Furie has applied its intellectual property rights since 2017, End the use of Pepe the Frog by a series of alt-right and neo-Nazi websites.

"If someone thinks he can make money selling unauthorized Pepe products, he is wrong," Tompros said in a press release.

"Mr. Furie will continue to enforce his copyright, especially against those who try to make a profit by associating Pepe with images or odious ideas," he added.

Pepe the frog has designated a symbol of hatred by ADL
The creator of Pepe the frog pursues Infowars

For years, Jones used the Infowars website and his radio show to peddle conspiracy theories, suggesting to his audience that the end of civilization is near.

He then used these platforms to fabricate survival equipment, nutritional supplements and other products as a solution to the problems that he described in his broadcast.

Pepe the Frog was part of the poster sold by Infowars, which shows the drawing next to controversial Internet personalities such as Milo Yiannopoulos.

Jones and Infowars have been banned from social media, including Facebook, which called the theoretician the conspiracy of "dangerous" earlier this year.

Fury attempted to rescue his frog from use by right-wing and neo-Nazi trolls, even going so far as to "kill" the character in a cartoon of 2017.

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