Comedy III Productions, Inc. v. Gary Saderup, Inc.

Comedy III Productions, Inc. v. Gary Saderup, Inc. was a legal case where Comedy III, the company that owns The Three Stooges' likenesses, sued artist Gary Saderup for creating T-shirts featuring a realistic drawing of the Stooges’ images. The court ruled that Saderup’s work was a commercial use of protected celebrity images, but it did not qualify as “transformative” enough to be considered fair use or a new work. The case clarified that commercial depictions of celebrities' likenesses, especially when used to sell products, can infringe on their rights of publicity and intellectual property.