Reddit violated publicity rights: WallStreetBets founder Jaime Rogozinski's big claims in lawsuit
Reddit to go public
Reddit has been sued by Jaime Rogozinski - the founder of a popular forum 'WallStreetBets' that fueled meme stocks frenzy in 2021 - over ousting him from the community. In his complaint, Rogozinski has claimed that the American discussion and aggregation website infringed his trademark to WallStreetBets and violated his publicity rights. He invested years in the forum, founded in 2012, which reached the milestone of 1 million subscribers by 2020. Amid a wide reach, he wrote a book - "WallStreetBets: How Boomers Made the World’s Biggest Casino for Millennials" - and launched other WSB-related ventures.
Reddit suspended him, Rogozinski said, two weeks after he submitted the trademark application in 2020, according to reports. This cost him "hundreds of thousands of dollars of sales for his book". His firm, Rogozinski further claimed, lost a contract and he suffered huge losses. He filed the complaint in a federal court in Oakland, California, on Wednesday (February 15).
He further alleged that the premise for banning him - "attempting to monetise a community" - was a pretext to keep him from trying to control "a famous brand that helped Reddit rise to a $10 billion valuation" by late 2021. The contention is also linked to Reddit claiming ownership of popular forums before going public.
A spokesperson for the social network has termed the complaint "a completely frivolous lawsuit with no basis in reality". “Jaime was removed as a moderator of r/WallStreetBets by Reddit and banned by the community moderators for attempting to enrich himself. This lawsuit is another transparent attempt to enrich himself," the spokesperson has been quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.
In his lawsuit, Rogozinski mentioned 1989 Hollywood sports and fantasy drama "Field of Dreams", while attacking the social media giant as he wrote: "If you build it, they will come." He has sought $1 million in damages for violation of contract and violation of publicity rights.
WallStreetBets dominated market headlines in 2021 over meme stocks. For the uninitiated, meme stocks are stocks that rally periodically because of internet popularity.
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(With agency inputs)
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