Small Law Firms

The Pedobear Motion Practice You've Been Waiting For

The very nature of Pedobear will be decided by a court.

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Out there in meme-culture, a major lawsuit is happening. Encyclopedia Dramatica, “Wikipedia’s evil twin,” is being sued by Jonathan Monsarrat, an eccentric millionaire. Given the legal landscape, there is no more dangerous enemy for “edgy internet pages” than “eccentric millionaires.” See Generally: Peter Thiel v. Gawker, or Donald Trump v. The Entire American Experiment.

The Daily Dot explains the heart of the lawsuit:

Monsarrat is now suing Encyclopedia Dramatica for alleged copyright infringement and seeking a total of $750,000 in damages.

The lawsuit document, provided to the Daily Dot, reveals that Monsarrat is claiming copyright infringement for the Encyclopedia Dramatica article’s quotation of some old forum posts and use of a photo of him dressed as a beaver. The image had been manipulated to include a Pedobear, a meme devised to mock internet users who express sexual interest in children. For each of the “literary and visual works,” Monsarrat wants $150,000 in damages.

Pedobear is not just some ancillary part of these proceedings. No, we have a lawsuit where Pedobear is very near the center of the issue.

For those of you who weren’t around in 2009:

Pedobear is a cartoon mascot that became a well-known icon through its usage on 4chan to signal moderators and other users that illegal pornographic content had been posted. Due to the widespread nature of its application, Pedobear has been often misinterpreted as a symbol of pedophilia and lolita complex, especially in the news media and law enforcement agencies.

Which brings us to the current motion practice in the case. Monsarrat’s attorneys filed an emergency motion to quash defense exhibits, some of which included Pedobear references. They argue that the exhibits are a “gratuitous attack” on the plaintiff’s character.

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Plaintiff concurrently filed a separate motion, with included memorandum, to file Exhibits C and D to the Amended Complaint under seal. Doc. 45. The three page motion specifically seeks an Order that the entire Encyclopedia Dramatica “jonmon” page including among other things its references to the internet pedophilia slang terms, “pedo” and “pedobear,” sexual exploitation of “young girls” and its use of the pedobear image known on the internet as bait used to lure children to be molested and the porn site’s advertisement featuring images that are, or appear to be, of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct be filed under seal. Doc. 45 at 2-3 citing 18 U.S.C.§ 2252A and U.S. v. Williams, 553 U.S. 285 (2008). The motion plainly contends the jonmon page in its entirety constitutes “collateral speech” “accompanying” or “promoting” child pornography that is excluded from First Amendment protection. U.S. v Williams, 553 U.S. at 294-297.

You can read the full motion below. It argues that Pedobear itself is “promoting” child pornography. Which is odd because I believe it’s widely accepted that Pedobear is mocking child pornography.

And that brings us to the defense’s opposition to the motion to strike, which takes a DEEP dive into the legend of Pedobear. (Disclosure: Encyclopedia Dramatica is represented by the Randazza Legal Group, which has also represented Above the Law):

If there were ever any doubt about “Pedobear,” a news article about this very case managed to figure it out.

“Monsarrat is claiming copyright infringement for the Encyclopedia Dramatica article’s quotation of some old forum posts and use of a photo of him dressed as a beaver. The image had been manipulated to include a Pedobear, a meme devised to mock internet users who express sexual interest in children. For each of the “literary and visual works,” Monsarrat wants $150,000 in damages.” David Gilmour, “The lawsuit that could kill Encyclopedia Dramatica,” THE DAILY DOT (July 4, 2017), attached hereto as Exhibit E.6

Plaintiff’s motion is frivolous. Further, the Plaintiff absolutely has to know this. Pedobear is a ubiquitous joke on the Internet, and Mr. Monsarrat admittedly spends quite a lot of time on the Internet as an entrepreneur developing internet games. See Dkt. No. 43-1 at ¶ 1. At this point in history, if someone with a Computer Science degree from MIT (like the Plaintiff) claims that he is unaware of what Pedobear is, then he is being less than candid.

You can also read the full opposition motion below.

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Somewhere, I really hope there’s a judge asking their teenager to explain “Pedobear” to them, and that just makes me happy.

What makes me sad, of course, are the children. In my day, you could trust a man Photoshopped to look like a bear. He was just trying to help you prevent forest fires. Now, California is burning, and the world is upside down.


The lawsuit that could kill Encyclopedia Dramatica [Daily Dot]

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