$23.4 Million Judgment for Infringement of Videos Stands

Monday, November 10, 2025

Page 3

Ninth Circuit:

$23.4 Million Judgment for Infringement of Videos Stands

Panel Says Cartoon Character Was Copyrightable

By a MetNews Staff Writer


Depicted above, left, is JJ, a character in videos produced by Moonbug; at right is JoJo, from rival videos made by BabyBus. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a $23.4 million judgment against BabyBus for infringement.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a $23.4 million judgment in favor of Moonbug Entertainment, operator of the top-rated YouTube Kids channel, CoComelon, agreeing with the trial judge that a 3D-animated cherubic toddler named “JJ” is a copyrightable character based on distinctiveness.

Prior to trial, District Court Judge Edward M. Chen of the Northern District of California granted partial summary judgment in favor of Moonbug, holding that a jury could reasonably find that defendant Babybus’s character JoJo is “substantially similar” to JJ and constitutes an infringement.

JoJo appeared in videos on Babybus’s Super JoJo channel on YouTube. That channel was aimed, as CoComelon is, at preschoolers.

Owned by a company in China, Super JoJo had about 22 million subscribers at the time YouTube dumped it in September 2021 in light of allegations of infringement.

CoComelon—based in London, with production done by a subsidiary located in Irvine—is said to have approximately 198 million subscribers, the third highest number of all YouTube channels. It was sold in 2021, reportedly for $3 billion.

Revenue is derived from advertisements accompanying the videos.

JJ’s Distinctiveness

Agreeing with Chen’s granting of partial summary judgment, a three-judge panel said in a memorandum opinion filed Thursday:

“JJ has several unique characteristics that, when viewed in combination, render him ‘especially distinctive.’…The best example is his signature ‘Wow!’ gesture, but his clothing, physical features, character traits, and unique popularity also render him ‘especially distinctive.’ There is no genuine dispute of material fact that JJ is an especially distinctive character.”

Chen ruled that the character JJ is entitled to “thick protection,” meaning that a jury only needed to find that JoJo is “substantially similar” for liability to be established. That was error, Babybus contended on appeal, maintaining that “thin protection” should be applied, under which there is no infringement unless the allegedly offending work is “virtually identical” to the original.

Contention Pointless

The judges said in Thursday’s opinion:

“The district court also did not err by finding thick protection and applying the substantial similarity standard. Even if some visual elements are inherent in the genre of animated babies, there is still a wide range of possible creative expression. In any case, the jury found that JoJo was ‘not only substantially similar[] but also virtually identical’ to JJ. In other words, the jury also found illicit copying under the thin-protection standard Appellants would have preferred. So even if the district court had erred in finding broad protection, the error would have been harmless.”

The judges also rejected the defendant’s other claims.

Comprising the panel were Ninth Circuit Judges Patrick J. Bumatay and Ryan D. Nelson, along with Seventh Circuit Judge David F. Hamilton, sitting by designation.

The case is Moonbug Entertainment Limited v. Babybus Co., Ltd., 24-3748.