The Kike Koki vs. Kiki Koki infringement issue update

The Kike Koki vs. Kiki Koki infringement issue update

I reported about a possible case about a comic artist being ripped off here: Kike Koki vs. Kiki Koki.

Dave Alvarez's Kike to the left, and Ed Rodriguez's version on the right. 

 Talking with Dave Alavrez regarding this issue I learned that Ed Rodriguez was made aware back in 2010 when he debuted his character that there was a Kike Koki already established.

Point one:

Yet back in 2010 Borders covered up the existence of Kike Koki in their Puerto Rico story, along with not having any of the Kike Koki books from Dave Alvarez’s Kike Koki book in  stock that day, considering he had released two tomes of his book just recently there himself. 

 Point two:

Dave, having recently contacted an attorney and upon visiting the attorney he learned that the attorney represented one of the many merchandise distributors that handle Kiki, and he couldn’t represent him directly yet was told that his client knew about the complaints of being similar and possible infringement laws being broken, yet the client could not careless about Dave. He told Dave, that thousands of hundreds of dollars are being spent to back Kiki creator, and with this he has the power to defend himself while Dave has basically no money. He just has the sympathy of the public, which many see as the original creator of the character. Now we know that’s not enough, but sometimes it is. He was told in closing, that he has to keep fighting.

Point three:

This is a Coqui known as
the Guajon, one out of 17 types
on the island of Puerto Rico.

Kike Koki is based on a Coqui that comes from the Dorado subset on the island, yet there are over 17 different types on the island of Puerto Rico alone. Somehow, Ed Rodriguez chose the same exact Coqui species and colored the character very similar in design, when confront with this knowledge he did not change the name; give him another color design he did nothing. In fact he could have even gone out his way and given Dave co-creator rights. Yet what irks me even more. Dave’s strip had been running all over online and on El Nuevo Dia paper, and Ed supposedly had visited the island several times, shouldn’t he have known about this character? Shouldn’t he have done a check to see if there were any similar characters out there? One has to consider this seeing as the Coqui is a huge symbol to the Puerto Rican people of the island and Nyoricans, and other Puerto Rican descents for decades. So a simple search would have given Ed a heads up. Yes? No?

Point four:

Why hasn’t Ed come forward besides his wimpy excuse of stating, “There is no rip off here. Coqui frogs are golden in color (searchCoqui Dorado) and koki is the Taino spelling for coqui.”and try talking with Dave more in-depth with this issue now? Because he is engaging in cover-up tactics now?

Ed Rodriguez.

One has to consider that Ed Rodriguez knew about copyright law seeing as Ed Rodriguez has worked professionally as an artist for over 20 years, with various companies such as Disney, MGA/Little Tikes and Spin Master. Running his name through Amazon you would find quite a bit of his books through the system from various Disney books. He has worked with consumer products; he has a basic knowledge in copyright and what infringement involves. Unless he took everything he learned from Disney, which is a company we know that has infringed on other creator rights throughout the decades with various works of animation, and he figured he could take advantage of a fellow brethren?

I can’t talk about the state of mind of Ed Rodriguez of course, because who really knows his true motivations here.  Only Ed can answer these questions now, but he refuses to comment any further.

Kike Koki vs. Kiki Koki: You decide!

Character Theft? You decide!

Have you ever stolen someones work? Is it right or wrong? You decide!

 Hello folks how are everyone doing. I have come here to talk about Character theft. This is the simple case of one person stealing someone’s character and getting away with it. Or is it? You decide!

Dave Alvarez created his Kike Koki back in 2005.

November 19th, 2012 I went onto facebook and I was smacked in the face by an image about Kike Koki vs. Kiki Koki and how the one created was being ripped off and which showed how another creator  had benefited in this theft, while the original creator was struggling to make ends meet.

Kike Koki created by Dave Alvarez in 2005.

 The character in question is a character called Kike Koki (Kee Kee Koki is another variation of the name), this character first appeared in 2005 as a strip over on Deviant Art, then went onto a strip at Federator for Nickelodeon, to being featured in El Nuevo Dia through 2005-2011. Too also having two separate comics having been published about the title character, all created by David Alvarez

Kike Koki 2005.

This is Ed Rodriguez. Behind him is one of the plush toys
 based on his Kiki Koki. 

 Now on September 14, 2010 an Ed Rodriguez released a Kiki Koki character that had a similar color, and almost a similar appearance. Ed’s site states that the, “Kiki Koki is about an enchanted legend about the coqui frog as created by Ed Rodriguez. In addition to the storybook KikiKoki.com offers plush, apparel and art. It continues to add products for Coqui lovers of all ages.”

So when I did this research I was totally with Dave Alvarez at this point because the two characters at first glance of course don’t look like carbon copies but if you look at the two side by side you have to measure it equally with weighted eyes. Of course I am no judge, but my perception of the matter makes me suspect deeply that Ed stole Dave’s character.

Let’s do a side by side comparison and you can decide:

Do you see how both characters share a similar name, and share a similar appearance? You decide!

The original Kike Koki.

Kike Koki vs. Kiki Koki

Kike: Is a Coqui.

Kiki: Is a Coqui

Kike: Has bug eyes.

Kiki: Has bug eyes.

Kike: The color is yellow, white, green and red.

Kiki: The color is yellow, white, green and red.

Kike: Kike Coqui

Kiki: Kiki Coqui

You get my drift here?  There are way to many similarities here because they both share a similar name, the same appearance and someone that say followed Dave’s character caught the Kiki Coqui book, they would just assume it was the same character, and this would cause brand confusion. Yet the buck doesn’t stop there at all.

See how similar Kike is to Kiki?

You’d think if the creator of Kiki Koki was told this that he would have altered the character further that there would be zero similarities. I had to contact the creator of Kiki Koki about this. This is what I initially said to the creator in a message over on YouTube.

Yo if this is a rip off of an established character, not cool.

Hey Jake

There is no rip off here. Coquí frogs are golden in color (search Coqui Dorado) and koki is the Taino spelling for Coqui. Check out Kike Koki for yourself and compare it toKiki Koki, outside of color there is no similarity in design, content and story.

Then I email him, I asked him to clarify his stance further and this is what he tells me in his email:

Here is Ed explaining to me why his character is not a rip-off. You decide!

Hi Jake.

Ed Rodriguez's Kiki Koki as a plush figure. 

Congratulations on your blog and Comic books. Best of luck on printing your book. I have some experience in that area, I would be happy to share any lessons I've learned along the way if you have any specific questions.

As far as the "controversy" I really don't have anything further to say about it.

Thanks

Ed

You see it there; he then takes off right as he started the email. He did not defend himself further, he figured by giving me that wimpy excuse that he wasn’t a rip off because Coqui frogs are golden in color, and that Koki is the Taino spelling for Coqui, and tells me to compare it for myself, which I did they look a lot alike. Sure the stories maybe different but they look alike.

The creator with the faux Kiki? You decide!

At first when I heard this story I thought what if this guy didn’t know about the other guys creation and he went on to create his own story using the Coqui and the particular color scheme came about, but that thought quickly diminished with that particular response he made directly to me.

Furthermore, I spoke with Dave directly myself, and he told me that he did indeed confront Ed Rodriguez and told him that he was infringing on his characters branding and he showed him what he had, and he was told that he would stop with the character but that never happened because Ed was backed up by a Agent and to much money was invested into the character at this point? Dave, was dismayed because he said that Kiki was infringing on his character Kike, creating branding confusion and he was losing money because of this and he had to stop it. He told me he was consulting with an attorney.

You see Ed's success, is this right? Or is it wrong?
You decide!

If you go look at the Kiki Koki website you will see that Ed Rodriguez has made shirts, plus toys, had stage plays and cartoons using this character. Ed Rodriguez has committed fraud and he continues to commit such fraud, and hoping that Dave Alvarez is gullible enough to do nothing about it. That is only my opinion, and I do hope and pray that Dave is smart enough and he defends his property. He must because if he leaves this unchallenged then Ed will continue to abuse this mans creation.

Look it over folks, make your own informed opinion and share this story on. Thank you.

Jake Estrada