Cartoonist sues Memes.ai over comic used as ad template

Elmer Saflor filed a complaint on July 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint alleges Memes Apps offered Saflor’s two-panel strip ‘Running Away Balloon’ in the Memes.ai template library under its own name and made it searchable to subscribers.

Saflor, who publishes as Superelmer, posted the comic to Facebook in April 2017 and formally registered it in 2024. In the strip a grey stick figure reaches for a balloon labeled ‘opportunities’ while a pink character labeled ‘shyness’ holds the string.

The complaint pleads direct, contributory and vicarious copyright infringement, and seeks a permanent injunction, an accounting of profits, disgorgement, and statutory damages up to $150,000 for willful infringement. The filing states the artist’s primary goal is to obtain discovery and to raise broader questions about how AI platforms use creators’ work.

The complaint cites Memes.ai marketing aimed at brands, agencies and marketers. The platform offers subscription plans ranging from $40 to $199 per month and quotas permitting up to 1,000 meme ads. The company’s website tells customers generated ads ‘are yours to use for your business,’ including in paid advertising, and advertises that users can ‘fire your ad agency.’ The complaint argues that those statements support an allegation of willful infringement.

Saflor’s claim does not challenge how any model was trained; it targets the alleged reproduction and sale of the exact comic as a ready-made template to paying customers.

Internet law scholar Eric Goldman cautioned that a ruling against Memes Apps could extend to other meme and ad generators and that focusing suits on suppliers rather than advertisers could create additional legal questions. A 2024 federal appeals court decision found that a political campaign infringed the ‘Success Kid’ image by using it in fundraising posts; that ruling has been read as narrowing ad-related defenses for meme use.

The litigation will raise questions about when platforms may display and sell access to registered creative works in template libraries and how copyright law applies to services that produce paid advertising.