Infowars To Pay $15K For Unauthorized Pepe The Frog Posters
DALLAS, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Controversial website Infowars will pay $15,000 to resolve a copyright infringement lawsuit over its sales of a poster featuring the image of Pepe the Frog, a cartoon character that was hijacked by far-right extremists and racist internet trolls.
Infowars host Alex Jones on Monday signed his companies' settlement agreement with Pepe's creator, California-based artist Matt Furie.
An article posted on Infowars' website calls it a "strategic victory" for Jones.
One of Furie's attorneys says the settlement amount is more than the $14,000 that Infowars made from poster sales.
No stranger to controversy, Jones began his career in the 1990s running a live public-access cable television program, later switching to radio. His promotion of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting conspiracy theories and his aggressive opposition to gun control in a debate with Piers Morgan are a couple notable incidents.
Furie said he didn't authorize Infowars to sell a "MAGA" poster depicting Pepe alongside images of Jones, President Donald Trump, far-right agitator Milo Yiannopoulos and others.
A jury trial for Furie's lawsuit was scheduled to begin July 16 in Los Angeles.