 In January 2009, Penders began copyrighting various stories, characters, and artwork that he created for Archie Comics' "Sonic the Hedgehog" comic series and spin-off titles, and these claims were certified as of April 2010 by the US Copyright Office.After declaring that he would "use every legal means at my disposal to protect and preserve" his works, Archie Comics filed a lawsuit against Penders in the fall of 2010 in an attempt to retain their copyright holdings of his characters and concepts.In the fall of 2012, Archie Comics fired its legal team and replaced it.