It all started in 2008, when Carlos Ramirez published a short comic in the chaotic territories of 4chan. One of the faces in that comic sparked a very particular reaction, and in less than 24 hours it claimed a privileged position among the world's most famous memes. Trollface has been up to its tricks on the web for seven years, but Ramirez decided to register it in 2010, which has allowed him to collect quite a few bucks…
The story feels too familiar. What should have been a night of studying was consumed by procrastination and the need to write nonsense on some forum. But in Carlos Ramirez's case, creator of the famous Trollface meme, it became his path to success. To be honest, nobody tries to publish a meme with the goal of becoming a millionaire. After all, the web can be ruthless, and what at first seems funny ends up gathering digital dust in a corner. Ramirez published his ultra-famous Trollface on 4chan, and the surprising thing is that users of the demanding image service adopted it immediately.
A lucrative copyright
At that time, Ramirez was 18 years old, and only his sister knew he was the creator, but it didn't take long for the rest of the family to find out. His father's reaction was a bit cold, but his mother could feel nothing but pride. It was she who encouraged him to register Trollface with the United States Copyright Office, with designation VAu001035955, on July 27, 2010. Since that day, Ramirez has collected just over one hundred thousand dollars from licenses, legal agreements, and other payments associated with Trollface. Some of the cases that involved licenses were the game Zeno Clash, and actor Adam Sandler.
When Trollface was at its peak of popularity, Ramirez's checks ranged between $10,000 and $15,000. And as expected, the existence of a legal registration forced him to engage in certain legal disputes with various companies and developers. Needless to say, Trollface generates little income for Ramirez today, but he has no problem with that. He is currently working on his own game, and he knows well that one day, we will remember neither him nor Trollface.
