Trending

Internet lawyer finally drops his legal battle against The Oatmeal

Years later, it’s time to cough up the $46,100.

Photo of Kevin Collier

Kevin Collier

Article Lead Image

Charles Carreon, the lawyer who tried to sue webcomic The Oatmeal for making fun of a site that republished Oatmeal comics, has finally quit the extended legal fight.

Featured Video

Carreon called the ordeal “dumb.”

He was, you may recall, the lawyer who initially represented theoretically-humorous image hosting site FunnyJunk against Oatmeal creator Matthew Inman. In 2011, Inman wrote a blog post condemning FunnyJunk for republishing his cartoons. A year later, Carreon sent him a letter: take down that defaming post, or we’re suing you for $20,000.

Of course, that suit didn’t have a lot of legs, and it culminated with Inman refusing, raising $220,000 for charity, and drawing a cartoon of Carreon’s mother loving a bear.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, a second humorist named Christopher Recouvreur started up a blog and Twitter account called Satirical Charles, which parodied Carreon’s mishaps. After failing to beat Inman, Carreon threatened Recouvreur with a libel suit. The two then wrangled in court, and Carreon ended up owing the third-party parodist $46,100 in damages.

But finally, on Tuesday, Carreon conceded total defeat, and quit trying to appeal the judgment.

In a Thursday interview with Ars Technica, Carreon seemed to finally realize the folly of publicly challenging a beloved online cartoonist on behalf of a site that republishes his work. 

“This is not a problem that is soluble with a legal cease-and-desist letter, or a counter cease-and-desist letter. I would not have sent that and I really reassess the decision thoroughly. It was not a good idea,” he told Ars. He also noted that Oatmeal fans ended up plastering his books with one-star reviews on Amazon.

Advertisement

But life’s not all bad for Carreon now. According to his website, his law practice is open for business, and he’s got one of the top 5% viewed profiles on LinkedIn.

Illustration by Jason Reed

 
The Daily Dot