CBS Allegedly Sued After Selling 'NCIS' Farting Hippo Puppet

If you don't watch NCIS, then you may be a little in the dark with this one. But fear not, we'll try and fill you in.

CBS Broadcasting has allegedly been sued based on copyright violations after beginning to sell a puppet that appears on the famed crime series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. And yes, that puppet is a farting hippo.

Coined as Bert the Farting Hippo on the program, the toy was initially created back in 2002 by Folkmanis Inc. –– the plaintiff. Just a year after is when Bert first appeared on NCIS. The puppet has been grossing everyone out ever since.

Apparently, the two look very similar.

Folkmanis Inc. labels themselves as makers of "high quality, three-dimensional soft sculptural works, including stuffed animal puppets of original design." CBS, however, claims that the puppet they used "was often accompanied by a dubbed sound effect of a fart attributable to the Hippo 1 puppet, and the show puppet was referred to and came to be known as Bert the Farting Hippo."

Back in 2009, Folkmanis came out with a newer version of its Hippo. This time, the company got themselves a copyright on "sculpture/3-D artwork." Therefore, they were then contacted by CBS and the network's online store operator Delivery Agent about selling the item.

The lawsuit states: "CBS and DA had surmised that a hippo puppet would be a profitable product to offer for sale on the CBS Store. DA contacted Folkmanis to have a special edition of the Hippo 2 puppet made exclusively for DA and CBS. The special edition Hippo 2 puppet ('Hippo 2.1' puppet) is identical to the Hippo 2 puppet with the addition of a spiked collar and a sound box that emulates the sound of a fart. The copyrightable subject matter of the Hippo 2.1 puppet is identical to the copyrightable subject matter of the Hippo 2 puppet."

From the looks of it, all Bert items have been removed from the CBS Store.

Interested in meeting Bert? Check out the below video!