--- ---  # Seth McFarlane Accused of Stealing _Ted_ Character  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Jul 15, 2014 11:53 PM UTC  Seth MacFarlane attends a photocall to promote "A Million Ways To Die In The West" held at Claridges Hotel on May 27, 2014 in London, England. Seth MacFarlane attends a photocall to promote "A Million Ways To Die In The West" held at Claridges Hotel on May 27, 2014 in London, England.Karwai Tang—WireImage  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Jul 15, 2014 11:53 PM UTC A California-based production company [filed](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/ted-studios-seth-macfarlane-sued-718784) a lawsuit against Seth MacFarlane Tuesday accusing the comedian and filmmaker of stealing the vulgar, womanizing teddy bear character used in the movie _Ted_. According to the complaint, filed by Bengal Mangle Productions, _Ted_‘s lead character is similar to one in the screenplay for the web series _Acting School Academy_, which was written in 2008. “The screenplay included a character named Charlie (“Charlie”),” the suit says. “Charlie is a teddy bear who lives in a human, adult world with all human friends. Charlie has a penchant for drinking, smoking, prostitutes, and is a generally vulgar yet humorous character. “ The plaintiffs claim _Acting School Academy_ was circulated on YouTube, Facebook, iTunes, Funny or Die, Vimeo and other forums and viewed around 1.2 million times. Universal released the movie _Ted_, created by McFarlane, in June 2012\. According to _The Hollywood Reporter_, _Ted_ was the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of the year, raking in $550 million. The suit alleges copyright infringement and seeks recovery of unspecified damages. Neither McFarlane nor Universal responded to a request for comment from THR. \[[_THR_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/ted-studios-seth-macfarlane-sued-718784)\] Seth McFarlane Accused of Stealing Profane Teddy ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2989811/seth-mcfarlane-accused-of-stealing-ted-character/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2989811/seth-mcfarlane-accused-of-stealing-ted-character/"},"headline":"Seth McFarlane Accused of Stealing Ted Character","datePublished":"2014-07-15T23:53:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:10:12.127Z","description":"Another production company has accused the funnyman of ripping off their character","url":"https://time.com/2989811/seth-mcfarlane-accused-of-stealing-ted-character/","keywords":["Copyright","Ted","Universal"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd471ac2e9651b26/69869be855a8595656a81d05/494028181.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd471ac2e9651b26/69869be855a8595656a81d05/494028181.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"A Million Ways To Die In The West\" Photocall","caption":"\"A Million Ways To Die In The West\" Photocall","creditText":"Karwai Tang—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/copyright/","name":"Copyright"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2989811/seth-mcfarlane-accused-of-stealing-ted-character/","name":"Seth McFarlane Accused of Stealing Ted Character"}}]}] ```