- Ramar Larkin Jones is a massive Pokemon fan

- he's held the "Unofficial Pokémon PAX Kickoff Party" at his café for the past 5 years

- party offered Pokémon themed giveaways, music, and a Super Smash Bros. tournament

- there was a $2 admission fee that went towards a DJ and the giveaways

- when Ramar made posters for the event that prominently featured Pikachu and Snivy then he saw trouble from the Pokemon Company

- he was subject to a lawsuit from the Pokemon Company and immediately cancelled the party

- Washington judge has just ruled that Jones now owes the Pokémon Company $4,000 in damages

- Ramar says about the ruling that forces him to pay $4,000 to The Pokemon Company:

I can't pay it. I manage a cafe, and cost of living is super expensive in Seattle. I am hoping I can try to pay it over the course of a year, because I simply want to be done with it.

- Ramar now has forty five days to pay up

- He opened a GoFundMe account in an effort to raise the money:

https://www.gofundme.com/ng5f2ukk

- Ramar says he will not fight the case in court because the cost of a lawyer would exceed the settlement terms

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/10/the_pokemon_company_sues_fan_for_copyright_infringement_demands_usd4000_in_damages

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/a-broke-fan-owes-5400-for-trying-to-throw-a-pokemon-themed-party

Excessive or justified action by the Pokemon Company?

Hope his fundraiser gets funded, because it's a kinda BS lawsuit. Give him a warning or something like that instead, as he obviously didn't have bad intentions.

Seems like a "desist" letter is usually the COA in this cases by other companies, but Pokemon Company went all the way on this one.

Perhaps there is more to this story than we are getting, but it seems the Pokemon Club is going too far with this. A warning would have been fine. Plus, this doesn't seem damaging to the brand at all. I think they are a bit in the wrong here.

Wtf were the damages...

The guy obviously did wrong because in this story, there were money involved by using an IP that wasn't his.

That being said, the punishment is way, way too harsh. $4000 dollars? It's not like this guy was single-handely going to drive the Pokemon Company out of business...jeez.

$4000? Damn, that must have been some party.

My parents made a pokemon party when I was 7.
Thank God they didn't noticed

OT: hope this guy can turn the things up

Man, that's a lot! I feel him.

It's the commercial aspect that's the key here. And while I do understand the need to vigorously enforce your trademark, I file this one under "dick move."