Mind Candy's popular
Moshi Monsters parody character Lady Goo Goo has been silenced following a lawsuit from source material inspiration Lady Gaga.
Gaga was granted an interim inunction in a British court to halt the distribution of "Peppy-razzi," a parody of Gaga's "Paparazzi," as well as other Lady Goo Goo hits such as "The Moshi Dance," which has attracted over 3 million views on YouTube. The video, which was
available here, was pulled from the site following the court's decision.
Specifically, the company is barred from "promoting, advertising, selling, distributing or otherwise making available to the public The Moshi Dance or any musical work or video that purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo, or that otherwise uses the name Lady Goo Goo or any variant thereon," according to court papers
received by The Guardian.
The injunction will put a crimp in Mind Candy's
recent plans to grow its
Moshi Monsters empire by selling songs -- including those performed by Lady Goo Goo -- over iTunes.
Lady Goo Goo material was almost certainly a large part of Mind Candy's
upcoming video platform as well.
"It's pretty obvious that kids will be able to tell the difference between the two characters," Mind Candy CEO Michael Acton Smith said in a statement.
"The shame is that millions of kids fell in love with Lady Goo Goo's debut single on YouTube and now won't be able to enjoy her musical exploits. It was all done in the name of fun and we would have thought that Lady Gaga could have seen the humor behind this parody."
The Lady Goo Goo character herself may still appear in the game, but without the associated songs. Other parody characters such as "Dustbin Beaver" will remain in the game, barring further legal disputes.
