[Josy]

Seth MacFarlane, Universal Pictures and Media Rights Capital are being sued for alleged copyright infringement over their comedy Ted.

The suit, which was filed on Tuesday (July 15) by Bengal Mangle Productions, claims that Ted's abusive teddy bear character is an unlawful copy of the company's own animated bear, Charlie.



Charlie has appeared in web series 'Charlie The Abusive Teddy' and 'Acting School Academy', which aired in 2009 and 2010 on YouTube and FunnyOrDie.com.

According to Variety, the suit alleges that Charlie and Ted are similar in appearance and behaviour.

One extract reads: "Both Charlie and Ted reside in a substantially similar environment, including that both Charlie and Ted spend a significant amount of time sitting on a living room couch with a beer and/or cigarette in hand.

"Charlie and Ted each have a substantially similar persona, verbal tone, verbal delivery, dialogue, and attitude."

The suit also highlights several scenes from Ted which are apparently similar to those shown in the Charlie episodes.

These include "showing a woman all the lewd acts he wants to perform with her; using violence to get his point across to John; talking to Norah Jones about their sexual history, and making fat jokes even when his life is in danger".

There has been no comment yet from MacFarlane, Universal or Media Rights Capital.

Ted, released in 2012, was directed, co-written and produced by MacFarlane and grossed $550 million worldwide. A sequel is expected to be released in June 2015.

More at the link

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/n...oKcexfZzfJYZm4