Ken Penders' legal cases

Overview
This is a list of both lawsuits and legal cases either by or directed at Ken Penders with SEGA and Archie Comics Publishing (hereto abbreviated as ACP) between January 2009 and October 2015 as well as a timeline of relevant events and effected characters. The legal dispute is still ongoing.

U.S. Copyright Office
A series of lawsuits by Ken Penders filed against SEGA/ACP and related subsidiary companies (and vice versa) began with the first case on January 1, 2009. During this time, Copyright was lodged to the U.S. Copyright Office by Penders on various stories, characters, and artwork created by him for Archie Comics Publishing's' Sonic the Hedgehog comic series & spin-off title, Sonic Universe.

In April 21, 2010, the U.S. Copyright Office began certifying Pender's copyright claims filed on every single story created, drawn or both for Archie Comics by him, resulting in his works being officially recognized and acknowledged by the U.S. Government as the intellectual owner of any Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna stories he created. In doing so, Penders states that he was now in the position "to use any legal means deemed necessary to protect and preserve" his work from the Archie comics, including characters he claimed to create."

SEGA/Electronic Arts lawsuit
In 2011 Penders filed a lawsuit against Sega and EA Games for alleged copyright infringement in the video game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood,  such include characters of the Nocturnus Clan, with Penders noting their appearance and narrative backstory are too similar to Penders' Dark Egg Legion. It's believed this similarity is what initially sparked the lawsuit. This eventually led to a massive reboot of the long-running comic series, and the retirement of all its echidna characters (save for Sega echidnas, Tikal and Knuckles) and most non-Sega characters under Pender's claim.

The lawsuit ended in stalemate when the case was dismissed for the second time and upheld in court in October 2013. Although Penders did attempt to address the case with Archie Comics Publishing alongside the current ongoing case, due to the Statute of Limitations, Penders was forced to temporarily limit his legal actions. He will be unable to file again unless characters and concepts from Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood are used in the future.

Archie Comics Lawsuit
In response, Archie Comics proceeded to file a lawsuit against Penders in the fall of 2010 in an attempt to retain their copyright holdings of his characters and concepts after his filing of legal ownership in 2009. As the comic is licensed, everything created, including characters, legally belong to SEGA. Although Penders did attempt to address the case of Archie Comics Publishing alongside the SEGA/Electronic Arts case, the Statute of Limitations temporarily limited Penders' legal options and actions. Archie originally claimed Penders had signed a "Work for Hire" contract; rendering everything Penders created would belong to SEGA. However,  Archie Comic's legal team failed to produce the contract from Penders' time of work at the company the lawsuit lead to a settlement and ended on June 26, 2013.

Possible upcoming lawsuit
On October 20, 2015, Ken Penders posted a tweet hinting at another lawsuit possibly at Archie Comics Publishing (ACP) and/or SEGA incorporated and asserts (the audience) to not blame him "for what happens next". Although it does not mention (opposition) party members or Archie Comics Sonic the Hedgehog character or continuity specifically, it may be in regards to some comic book issue reprints by ACP either involving or possibly breaching a term/s of the previous lawsuit settlement in some way or another.

Timeline of events

 * September 2008 - BioWare releases Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.
 * January 2009 - Ken Penders begins filing for Copyright Registrations of his works to the U.S Copyright Office initially with no disclosure.
 * April 21, 2010 - Pender's Copyright Registration applications is approved by the US Copyright Office; notifications are sent to both SEGA Incorporated and Archie Comics Publishing of Pender's Copyright registration. Both companies given opportunities to challenge the registration application.
 * May 21, 2010 - SEGA Incorporated and Archie Comics Publishing (ACP) initially fail to respond to the notifications; Penders is notified by the US Copyright Office.
 * June 1, 2010 - The US Copyright Office begins officially filing Penders' registrations. Certificates of Registration and legal documents regarding Copyright details are received by Penders.
 * July 2010 - Penders begins serving public notification of his Copyright registrations.
 * November 23, 2010 - A lawsuit is filed at Penders by the ACP, alleging breach of contract.
 * May 2011 -  Penders is forced to file a lawsuit against SEGA Incorporated and Electronic Arts (EA) due to the Statute of Limitations.
 * July 2011 - Both sides submit to Discovery in the ACP v. Penders case.
 * August 2011 - Depositions are taken in the ACP v. Penders case.
 * September 26, 2011 - Judge Otis Wright dismisses Penders v. SEGA/EA case despite both mutual and active agreement between both parties to stay on the case.
 * September 30, 2011 - The Penders v. Sega/EA case are refiled by Penders' legal team.
 * October 24, 2011 - ACP v. Penders case, originally scheduled to begin October 31, is delayed till January 17, 2012.
 * January 17, 2012 - The trial for the ACP v. Penders case is delayed to January 31 as the argument and summary are reviewed by the court.
 * February 2012 - Penders v. SEGA/ACP are dismissed for the second time.
 * May 2012 - An appeal with the CA 9th Appellate Court is filed by Penders regarding his case against SEGA Incorporated and Electronic Arts.
 * July 16, 2012 - Judge Berman rules against summary judgement in the ACP v. Penders case.
 * November 29, 2012 - ACP and and Ken Penders sign a term sheet of agreement.
 * June 26, 2013 - ACP and Penders formalize a Settlement Agreement.
 * Late October 2013 The CA 9th Appellate Court upholds (Judge Wright's) initial ruling; Ken Penders proceeds to explore additional legal options.
 * November 2013 - Penders continues work on The Lara-Su Chronicles and begins work on a book concerning the case against SEGA Incorporated and Electronic Arts.

Aftermath
The settlement of the case, as noted by Penders, grants ACP the limited use of his characters on limited conditions of (but not limited to) ownership acknowledgement and royalty sum payments. The reasons behind ACP deciding not to use them however, remain undisclosed to the public. Regardless of the outcome of both legal cases, much of the Archie Comics Publishing (ACP)-exclusive Sonic the Hedgehog characters, story and universe created directly by Ken Penders were purged from the continuity at the combined behest of SEGA Incorporated and Archie Comics Publishing due to some of the legal established terms of the case. Thus, this resulted in the forced-implementation of a continuity reboot of the series and massive story-line changes, much to the dismay of many fans. Due to the Penders v Archie Comic's lawsuit settlement ending in Pender's favour because of ACP failing to produce the relevant contract of Penders' time of work (resulting in a settlement in Pender's favor), other ACP-exclusive characters/stories not created by Ken Penders or Ian Flynn by previous members of the Archie Team (eg. Karl Bollers' 'Mina Mongoose', 'Megan Acorn' and others) also followed systematic purging from the continuity in the form of the Super Genesis Wave. This may be relevant (but not limited to) to 2 primary known reasons:

1) To ensure similar legal complications do not arise again.

2) To keep the comic series' universe and stories more in line with the games at SEGA's behest.

Ken Penders continues his work on The Lara-Su Chronicles and begins work on a book concerning the case against SEGA Incorporated and Electronic Arts and has been open to disclosing further information.

SEGA Incorporated and Archie Comics Publishing (ACP) have remained relatively silent on the matter and little information of the case against Ken Penders have been disclosed to the public by said party members.

Continuity purge
This is a (mostly) complete list of characters both permanently removed, or suspected permanently removed from the continuity due to the legal settlement as dictated by the ACP/SEGA/Electronic Arts vs Penders collective cases. The list is sorted into two categories; the first lists characters created specifically by Penders which will no longer return under any circumstances ruled by the settlement whilst the second list displays characters not made by Penders, but are no longer present in the continuity for reasons known or unknown to the public domain. The list is to be continuously updated as time or information progresses, or if previous characters initially deemed purged, make a reappearance.

Permanent removal
This is a (mostly) complete list of characters both permanently removed from the continuity due to the legal settlement as dictated by the ACP/SEGA/Electronic Arts vs Penders collective cases. The list primarily consists of characters created by Ken Penders.
 * Aaron
 * Abby
 * Aerial
 * Alexis Acorn
 * Alicia Acorn
 * Alpha 100 Series
 * Angel-La
 * Athena
 * Anti-Penelope Platypus
 * Arakkis
 * Archimedes
 * Armand D'Coolette
 * Arlo the Armadillo
 * Aurora
 * Barney
 * Benedict
 * Bernadette Hedgehog
 * Bimmy
 * Blackjack
 * Boomer Walrus
 * Brutus Kintobor
 * Buns Rabbot
 * Bush Femur
 * Byron
 * Catweazle
 * Chaos Knuckles
 * Chaos Knuckles (Light Mobius)
 * Christopheles
 * Cobar
 * Councilor
 * Crystal-La
 * Dark Legion
 * Darwin
 * Dave
 * Deo Volente
 * Diablo
 * Dimitri
 * Dimitri (Light Mobius)
 * Dingo Regime
 * Doctor Eggman (Light Mobius)
 * Doctor Ivan Kintobor
 * Doctor Niven
 * Downtown Ebony Hare
 * Dr. Quack
 * Drago Wolf
 * Dylan
 * DYNAMAC
 * E.V.E
 * Edmund
 * Elias Acorn
 * Enerjak
 * Erik
 * Espio the Chameleon (Light Mobius)
 * Feist
 * Fiona Fox
 * Floren-Ca
 * Foxxy
 * Friar Buck
 * Gae-Na
 * Gala-Na
 * Garek
 * General Helmut Von Stryker
 * Geoffrey St. John
 * Gerbil
 * Giants for Offensive Occupation and Nullification
 * Glint
 * Golden Hive Colony
 * Golden Wingspanner
 * Hamlin
 * Harlan
 * Harry
 * Harry (Light Mobius)
 * Harvey Who
 * Hershey Cat
 * Holmes
 * Hunter
 * Ian St. John
 * Irving Pavlov
 * Isaac
 * Jaker
 * Janelle-Li
 * Jani-Ca
 * Jeepers
 * Jenna-Lu
 * Jon O'Hedge
 * Jordan
 * Jordann and Kayla-La
 * Joss
 * Juanita the Chameleon
 * Julayla Chipmunk
 * Jules Hedgehog
 * Julie-Su
 * Julie-Su (Dark Mobius)
 * Julie-Su (Light Mobius)
 * Kali-Ca
 * Kicks a Lot
 * King Bee
 * King Gong
 * Knecapeon "Kneecaps" Mace
 * Knecapeon "Kneecaps" Mace (Light Mobius)
 * Knuckles the Echidna (Light Mobius)
 * Kodos Lion
 * Kragok
 * Lara-Le
 * Lara-Le (Light Mobius)
 * Lara-Su
 * Leeta Wolf
 * Lien-Da
 * Lien-Da (Light Mobius)
 * Liza the Chameleon
 * Lobo
 * Locke
 * Locke (Light Mobius)
 * Luger
 * Lyco Wolf
 * Madam Councilor
 * Manik Acorn
 * Manik Acorn (future version)
 * Marcos
 * Mari-An
 * Marie D'Coolette
 * Mari-Su
 * Mathias
 * Mello
 * Melody Prower
 * Menniker
 * Menthor
 * Merin-Da
 * Miles Prower (Anti-Miles)
 * Minion (Archie)
 * Moonwatcher
 * Moritori Rex
 * Mount Kobiyunjabo
 * Nicole (future version)
 * Nicolette Weasel
 * O'Nux
 * Paladin
 * Patch D'Coolette
 * Penelope Platypus
 * Perriwinkle
 * Polysaurus Rex
 * Pravda
 * Prince Emerson Acorn
 * Princess Alicia Acorn
 * Princess Bee
 * Queen Hathor
 * Raynor
 * Razorklaw
 * Rembrandt
 * Renfield Rodent
 * Reynard
 * Riki-Le
 * Ripper
 * Rita-Le
 * Rob o' the Hedge
 * Robo-Robotnik v1.0
 * Rudyard
 * Rutan
 * Sabre
 * Sabre (Light Mobius)
 * Saffron Bee
 * Sally Acorn
 * Sally Acorn (future version)
 * Salma the Chameleon
 * Scourge the Hedgehog
 * Semper Fidelis
 * Shadowbot
 * Sherman Walrus
 * Shockra
 * Simon
 * Skye Prower
 * Sleuth "Doggy" Dawg
 * Snow Pigeon
 * Sojourner
 * Sojourner (Light Mobius)
 * Sommersby
 * Sonia Acorn
 * Sonia Acorn (future version)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (future version)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (Light Mobius)
 * Sonja-Ra
 * Spectre
 * Spectre (Light Mobius)
 * Stealth 'Bot
 * Steppenwolf
 * Streaking Pasha
 * SWEEPbot
 * Syntar
 * Teri-Lu
 * Theodore Acorn
 * Thunderhawk
 * Tobor
 * Valdez
 * Voni-Ca
 * Wynmacher
 * Wynmacher (Light Mobius)
 * Xenin
 * Yanar
 * Zax the Echidna

Suspected permanent removal
This list displays characters not made by Ken Penders, but are no longer present in the continuity for reasons known or unknown to the public domain. As they do not belong to Penders, such characters may have the possibility of making a return when the situation is deemed permitable by either SEGA or ACP. The list includes characters which have made a recent appearance before the events of the Super Genesis Wave and is to be continuously updated as time or information progresses, or if previous characters initially deemed purged, make a reappearance.
 * Agunus Rhino
 * Arthur Mongoose
 * Ash Mongoose
 * Doctor Finitevus
 * Hope Kintobor
 * Hugo Brass
 * Isabella Mongoose
 * Kage Von Stryker
 * Karl, Jeff, and Konor
 * Megan Acorn
 * Mina Mongoose
 * Nusgau Bat
 * Rory Bear
 * Sasha Cat
 * Snaggle Tiger
 * Suguna Lobster