Artist Elmer Saflor, who goes by the online handle “Superelmer,” loves that millions of people have shared his “Running Away Balloon” comic since it became a popular meme in 2017.
However, just because lots of people have copied it, that doesn’t mean it’s OK for an AI meme generator to commercialize his copyrighted meme as a template for who knows how many ads, he told Ars. That’s why he’s fighting to stop one of the biggest meme generators currently leveraging AI to rapidly scale the allegedly illegal use.
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, Saflor, a digital creator and artist in the Philippines, alleged that Memes Apps, LCC—which operates the content creation platforms Memes.ai and Memes AI Studio—violated copyright law by selling paid subscriptions to an ad generator that spits out copies of his comic without permission.
Saflor told Ars that he did not contact Memes Apps ahead of filing his suit, and he has not seen any examples of his meme used in ads generated by the platforms. However, he filed the lawsuit to compel discovery, while raising “broader questions about how AI-powered platforms use creators’ work, what licensing obligations they may have, and how copyright law applies when viral Internet culture becomes a commercial product,” he told Ars.
Entire meme ecosystem may be impacted #
It’s unclear what defense Memes App may raise, but Internet law expert Eric Goldman told Ars that there’s precedent to support Saflor’s arguments that his rights have been infringed.
In a 2024 case involving the “SuccessKid” meme, a court ruled that the particular meme could not be used in a campaign ad without permission. At the time, Goldman blogged that the ruling implied that “meme usage for noncommercial purposes is likely fair use, while meme usage in ads isn’t.”
Goldman told Ars that Saflor has started his case off “on the right foot,” telling “the right story for the judge” in the complaint.