On Thursday, Alki David’s Hologram USA filed a lawsuit that claims Homer infringed its patented system to project three-dimensional images onstage. This isn’t the first such suit; they also targeted a Michael Jackson hologram at the Billboard Music Awards, a suit that is ongoing.
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Hologram USA claims to hold the patent to a contemporary version of a 19th Century stage trick called “Pepper’s Ghost,” which the company used to create the late Tupac Shakur performing at the 2012 Coachella Music Festival — an event Groening referenced onstage at Comic Con (you can see Fox’s official video below).
“As with the Simpson hologram, the Patented Technology was used to create the Tupac Shakur hologram,” the suit claims. “Unlike the creators of the Tupac Shakur hologram, however, Defendants did not obtain a license or any other authorization to use the Patented Technology for the Performance.”
A spokesperson for Fox responded, “This filing is totally without merit and we have no comment except to say that once again, Mr. David has demonstrated his insatiable need to remain relevant.”
A special guest is beamed into The Simpsons panel, and he has an opinion or two about Comic Con.
Now the longest-running scripted show in television history, THE SIMPSONS reside in the town of Springfield. HOMER (Dan Castellaneta) works as a safety inspector at the local nuclear power plant; MARGE (Julie Kavner) tries to keep the peace in her family; BART (Nancy Cartwright) is the mischievous 10-year-old hellion; eight-year-old LISA (Yeardley Smith) is the intelligent, saxophone-playing, vegetarian member of the family; and baby MAGGIE conveys emotions via pacifier sucks.
