Delco duo behind ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Bob’s Burgers’-themed pop-ups ordered to pay $1.26 million to Fox
The Media and Swarthmore residents held events that included a Moe's Tavern replica, according to a lawsuit.
“You tried your best and failed miserably,” Homer Simpson tells his kids in a classic moment from the beloved TV show. “The lesson is: Never try.”
A duo from Delaware County seemingly took Homer’s advice as their legal strategy.
Faced with a $1.3 million copyright lawsuit from 20th Century Fox over The Simpsons and Bob’s Burgers-themed pop-up events, Joseph McCullough of Media and Samantha Shutter of Swarthmore didn’t try to mount a defense.
Most of the pop-up events in question transformed spaces into Moe’s Tavern from The Simpsons, “where nobody knows your name.” For a ticket ranging from $34 to $89, the suit says, patrons could dine and order Duff Beer, a Homer Simpson favorite, in a replica of the fictional Springfield dive bar, owned and operated by curmudgeon Moe Szyslak.
A federal judge earlier this month issued a judgment against McCullough and Shutter, and the now-defunct company behind the events, JMC Popups LLC, for $1.26 million — nearly the full amount that Fox requested. Judge Paul S. Diamond also ordered that the two scrub the internet of all material related to the pop-ups, and return to Fox’s attorneys any equipment used in the pop-ups.
In his opinion announcing the award, Diamond said that the failure to respond the lawsuit “strongly suggests” that McCullough and Shutter “have no litigable defense” and that “their conduct is culpable.”
Fox’s complaint, filed in July 2024 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, accused McCullough, who has been identified as the JMC Popups CEO in press interviews, and Shutter, who helped produce the events, of infringement copyright and intellectual property from The Simpsons show and movie.
JMC Popups brought Moe’s Tavern to life in various locations nationwide, from Springfield Mall in Delco to Ohio, since at least 2021. Other local events have included pop-ups in the Plymouth Meeting Mall.
The Inquirer was unable to reach McCullough or Shutter through contact information found in public records.
Fox said in the complaint that it sent a cease-and-desist letter to the operators in February 2024, but since then they have held 18 Moe’s Pop Up events in at least two locations and advertised an additional 11 locations through 2024.
In May 2024, JMC Popups began to also offer Bob’s Burgers-themed events — based on the animated series that is also owned by Fox — despite being on notice, the lawsuit says.
In March, after the two failed to respond to the lawsuit, Fox asked for a default judgment to the tune of $1.3 million.
The media conglomerate described in court filings attempts to reach McCullough and Shutter in an effort to resolve the matter without litigation. The outreach fell on deaf ears, Fox said.
Diamond found that the pop-up events were “blatant and repeated acts,” and awarded $30,000 for each copyright infringement, $100,000 for each trademark infringement, and $5,000 for each domain infringement, for a total of $1.26 million. The judge denied Fox’s request for fees and the costs of the litigation.
Attorneys for Fox did not respond to a request for comment.