Elmer Saflor Sues Memes Generator for Copyright Infringement
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Filipino cartoonist Elmer Saflor, who goes by pen name Superelmer, has filed a complaint against Memes App, LLC, the operator of Memes.ai and Memes AI Studio, for alleged copyright infringement when they began selling a commercial template subscription plan that includes his viral cartoon Running Away Balloon. First published in 2017, his cartoon has been re-shared millions of times across social media and is included in multiple meme generator sites for free. Elmer registered his cartoon with the United States Copyright Office in 2024, two years before Memes App launched it’s advertising template service.
The complaint asks the court to stop the defendants use of his comic and compel discovery to see how many ads used his work. If instances are found, Memes App could face statutory damages upwards of $150,000 per “willful infringement.” As of this writing, the Running Away Balloon cartoon is no longer found in the Memes.ai’s template search.
From an Ars Technica article, Internet law expert Eric Goldman offered the strengths and weaknesses of the case.
However, it’s gutsy to go after the meme generator, rather than advertisers allegedly infringing, and that strategy could create “a whole host of other legal dilemmas” for the court to weigh, Goldman told Ars.
By taking on the meme generator, Saflor may hit a wall if the court finds that his arguments apply to any meme generator and a finding in his favor could risk undercutting the entire meme ecosystem, Goldman said.
“In those circumstances, there’s some good reasons for the court to check more cautiously,” Goldman suggested, perhaps making a win harder for Saflor.
However, “the packaged deal” that Memes Apps is trying to sell to third-party advertisers—offering access to template memes for subscription tiers set at $40 or $199 monthly—could doom the meme generator’s defense. Unless, Goldman suggested, Memes Apps can prove that the deal is a common model in the meme generator industry.
Goldman also notes that during discovery, the plaintiffs may find that no advertisers purchased the cartoon and thus there were no damages.
Unlike artists who have sued against AI platforms who have trained their models on artists’ work, Elmer is opening a new front against AI and copyright infringement. AI Governance Institute notes that the “lawsuit arrives against a broader backdrop of unresolved AI copyright liability: the Anthropic copyright settlement earlier in 2026, while large in dollar terms, left core questions about downstream commercial use and enterprise licensing obligations unanswered.”
To support the legal costs, Elmer has created a memecoin ($BALLOON) that supporters can purchase.
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