Artist sues AI meme generator for selling deeply personal comic as ad template

Published 27 July 2026 · finance

Artist Elmer Saflor, who goes by the online handle “Superelmer,” loves that millions of people have shared his “Running Away Balloon” comic since it became

Artist Elmer Saflor, who goes by the online handle “Superelmer,” loves that millions of people have shared his “Running Away Balloon” comic since it became a popular meme in 2017. However, just because lots of people have copied it, that doesn’t mean it’s OK for an AI meme generator to commercialize his copyrighted meme as a template for who knows how many, he told Ars.

That’s why he’s fighting to stop one of the biggest meme generators currently leveraging AI to rapidly scale the allegedly illegal use. "Running Away Balloon" comic by Elmer Saflor, aka "Superelmer." Credit via Saflor / Superelmer Elmer Saflor, the original artist who made the "Running Away Balloon" comic.

Credit via Saflor In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, Saflor, a digital creator and artist in the Philippines, alleged that Memes Apps, LCC—which operates the content creation platforms Memes.ai and Memes AI Studio—violated copyright law by selling paid subscriptions to an ad generator that spits out copies of his comic without permission.

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