'Left Shark' Vendor Faces Katy Perry's Legal Wrath

The latest viral meme comes to us courtesy of Katy Perry's Super Bowl halftime performance: "Left Shark," a reference to one of the dancers in a shark costume behind Perry as she sang "Teenage Dream" who did not appear to actually know the dance quite as well as the shark on the right. (Examples of how he's been mocked and/or used in Valentine's Day greetings here.) Fernando Sosa quickly decided to capitalize on the phenomenon, 3D-printing a Left Shark figurine and selling it on Shapeways.com for $24.99, but by Wednesday, Perry's lawyers were onto him, CNN reports.

"Our client [Perry] recently has learned that you have been involved in the manufacture, sale, marketing, and distribution of merchandise featuring a shark sculpture which embodies and uses the [Super Bowl halftime show], and that you have displayed this product on your website, in connection with such sale and distribution," reads a letter sent to the website demanding Sosa stop selling the sculptures and hand over any that he still has. And, as it turns out, Left Shark may have been doing exactly what he was supposed to anyway: Perry's choreographer tells the Hollywood Reporter the sharks were meant to have "a Tweedledee/Tweedledum-type persona." (More Katy Perry stories.)