[frazerb]

I'm a little surprised by the striking similarities between Octocat and the "Octonauts" (www.octonauts.com) - a cartoon in the UK that my two kids are mad about.

I'm trusting that these copyright/design right concerns have been contemplated at least - not least because of the similarity in name as well as in design.

(See the google images link for a collection of octonauts: http://goo.gl/Xek21)

[aspir]

If the Octonauts wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Octonauts) is correct, the show's airing was 2 years after the founding (and copyrighting of the octocat) of GitHub

[martey]

The Wikipedia page also notes that the Octonauts are based on books published in 2006, 2 years before the founding of Github.

While I am not a lawyer, I do not think there is very much similarity between the two. Github's Octocat is half-octopus, half-cat. The Octonauts are 8 nautical animals (including an octopus and a cat).

[ricardobeat]

Not really that similar, big heads and round ears. The artist who drew the octocat has plenty of other characters in the same style: http://www.idokungfoo.com/

[frazerb]

All very wise observations, folks. I feel better now. And thanks.