The meme industry has had a long and storied history over the years. From the early hits of Dancing Baby and ROFLcopter, to the modern greats of Harambe and Is this a Pigeon?, it’s safe to say that memes aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

However, this growth may come crashing to a halt. On October 4th, 2019, Impact Font, an associate of many best-known memes, announced that it was suing the top memes in the industry. Officially known as Impact Font v Memes this case is set to change the meme landscape if Impact Font wins.

Many might not know Impact Font by name, but its position as one of the most important factors in developing the early meme industry is difficult to debate. Impact was the font of choice for meme superstars such as Bad Luck Brian and Awkward Penguin. Meme styles sporting top and bottom text superimposed upon an image most likely use Impact. As such, Impact has long been a silent play-maker in the growing meme world. Impact was the font of choice for these celebrities, and now it seems Impact is tired of watching quietly.

According to official reports, Impact has sued a conglomeration of the highest-grossing memes that partnered with it. Impact’s lawyers claim that the failure to credit the font resulted it in not getting the same level of fame that the memes it partnered with, despite contributing majorly to them. A second issue brought up by Impact’s lawyers is that the memes have no made efforts to stop unlicensed meme generators from using Impact’s intellectual property. Lawyers for both parties have declined any comment, but rumor has it that the defendants may cite the landmark Comic Sans v School Assignments case as grounds for dismissal of the suit. 

As of reporting, the battle is still ongoing, but if Impact wins, the meme industry may face similar lawsuits in the future. Impact isn’t the only font that’s found popularity, as many smaller fonts have found jobs serving as “meme labels.” In rough legal terms, a “meme label” is any font that is placed on an image, not on the top and bottom. Impact’s victory could set a precedent for these smaller fonts to sue as well.

The meme industry could also see the stricter regulation of meme generators, resulting in a slowed production of memes in the future. While the industry has relied on a self-regulating and internal quality control system, we may see independent regulatory bodies be formed to ensure fair use of fonts. The rapid-fire, dime-a-dozen style of meme creation we’re currently used to would slow down to ensure that use of memes and their fonts are within their legal rights.

Whatever the verdict is, we here at Meme Magazine are sure that it will have a massive impact on the future of the industry.

Jonathan Jeffrey

Jonathan Jeffrey is the Managing Editor of Meme Magazine. Jonathan has received several awards in the fields of meme journalism, and international fame for breaking the Scumbag Steve scandal. He has a masters degree in Advanced Meme Physchology, as well as a minor in Meme Journalism at KYM University.