Bit Parts

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California decided that the book Oh, the Places You'll Boldly Go!, which mashes up components from the Dr. Seuss book Oh, the Places You'll Go with components from Star Trek adventures, was a copyright fair use. Dr. Seuss Enterprises L.P. v. ComicMix LLC, 16cv2779. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino reached her decision on a motion to dismiss. On the purpose and character of use, the defendants had claimed their work was a parody. District Judge Sammartino disagreed by finding, “Boldly merely uses Go!'s illustration style and story format as a means of conveying particular adventures and tropes from the Star Trek canon.” But the district judge went on to find that “although Boldly fails to qualify as a parody it is no doubt transformative. In particular, it combines into a completely unique work the two disparate worlds of Dr. Seuss and Star Trek.” On amount and substantiality of use, Judge Sammartino observed: “[T]here is no dispute that Boldly copies many aspects of Go!'s and other Dr. Seuss illustrations. However, Boldly does not copy them in their entirety; each is infused with new meaning and additional illustrations that reframe the Seuss images from a unique Star Trek viewpoint. Nor does Boldly copy more than is necessary to accomplish its transformative purpose.” Acknowledging the popularity of mash-ups as an art form (while noting not all mash-ups will be fair uses), the district court emphasized: “[I]f fair use was not viable in a case such as this, an entire body of highly creative work would be effectively foreclosed.” Finally, on Dr. Seuss Enterprises's Lanham Act trademark violation claim over title and typeface, the court found none because the defendant's uses of those were artistically relevant to Boldly.