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JohnT
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Capitalist
Mar 1999
time: 00:20
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So, today, my wife, Sophie, and I went out to lunch at one of our fine Chili's establishments. While we were there, we saw the most asinine and stupid thing possible - a couple of women were wearing "Incredibles" t-shirts with a "J" replacing the "I", and the words "Farrugut Church of Christ" stenciled around the logo. I mean, there was no doubt - the shirt was the same color red, the logo had the same coloring, they even made the "J" with the same shading gradient as the original "I" (Check out http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0317705/TI-002.jpg if you don't know what I mean.)
Not being a fan of zealots, and not believing that these people would actually "steal for Jesus", plus seeing a chance to irritate
a. anti-copyright zealots
b. Christians (meaning all of Knoxville)
I turned them in.
Following is the text of the email I wrote to the Disney Legal Department and Pixar Animation:
quote:
Madam/Sir:
I would like to report a possible copyright violation in regards to the use of the Incredibles logo.
The Farragut Church of Christ (http://www.farragutchurch.org/) has printed and distributed a number of special-made "Incredibles"-esque T-shirts. I found this out when two church members wore them today: my wife and I saw them during lunch.
The logo design on the front of the shirts follow the original logo almost exactly - same color orange/yellow/black with the same shading. The shirt itself is... "Incredibles red" (for want of a better term: my daughter has an official shirt we bought at the Disney Store and the copies were the same shade of red.) I said "almost exactly" in regards to the logo design as the only difference between the official logo and the one the church is distributing that the lower-case "I" was replaced with a lower-case "J" (for Jesus.) Also, surrounding the logo, the words "Farragut Church of Christ" were stenciled in white. On the back of the shirts are more Incredibles references, but I didn't get as good a look at the back as I did the front.
Not wanting to start an argument in a public place, in front of my three year-old, I didn't ask them if they asked/received permission or whatever - that's your job.  However, it was quite offensive to see an actual *church* "stealing for Jesus" - if that's what they were doing. For all I know, they did receive permission to use the logo in the manner in which they did... but I doubt it.
I do note that the church did bother to copyright their website, so *somebody* there is sensitive to the issue - at least in how it affects Farragut Church of Christ.
Not knowing who actually holds the copyright for the logo, I am sending this to both Pixar and Disney. One suggestion if I may - please make it simpler to actually report violations: I saw nothing on the Pixar site about this and on the Disney site I had to click my way through to http://corporate.disney.go.com/corp...andards24.html, call the 818 number listed, and only then, from a *phone call*, did I get the tips@disneyantipiracy.com address.
Thank you. If you need to contact me, please reach me via this email address. I have no affiliation with the church and have no idea as to how to get one of these shirts, but I will be glad to answer any questions you might have.
John T
Knoxville, TN
PS: The church's address and phone number follows:
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The back of these shirts were eye-rolling. "Jesus - the ONLY superhero" was stenciled in large letters along with biblical characters in Incredibles-like poses ( http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0317705/TI-026.jpg ) (which, dammit, I forgot to mention in the letter) and Bible verses.
Having read some of the horror stories about people who run counter to the desires of the Disney Legal Department, I'm just rubbing my hands together with anticipatory glee.  If Disney goes after these people, it'll likely make the evening news, meaning that the next time Christians want to steal for Jesus they'll think again. See? I'm just a force for  'round these parts: too bad they'll never look at it that way. 
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JohnT
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Capitalist
Mar 1999
time: 00:20
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Not really.
quote:
Wrong. Fair use is one of the most abused concepts of copyrights. Fair use allows you to use excerpts for journalistic review or educational inclusion. It is generally considered valid in educational or journalistic settings, generally not so in a "for profit" setting.
Fair use does not allow you to take a drawn image and scan it, then post it on a web site. That is a violation of the creator's right to reproduce. Nor does it allow you to create an image of another's copyrighted character for "public use." That is a violation of their right of derivative work. Neither can you make a scan of an image (or large excerpt from a literary work) for use as advertising - this violates at least 3 of the creator's rights. Unless you are using it in an educational or journalistic manner, be very careful about using "Fair Use" as an excuse to violate someone's copyright. There are very limited uses outside of educational or journalistic endeavors.
A major copy company recently was severely fined for attempting to classify the wholesale lifting of material for publication for ultimate use on college campuses as "Fair Use." While the initial violations were by the many teachers & professors that used the copy company to make their class readers (without getting permission from the copyright holders initially), it was ruled that since the copy company knew the rules and did it anyway, they were held responsible. It could be argued that it was for educational use, but it was not excerpts, it was whole articles, and it was in a "for profit" manner. |
The use doesn't match the "Fair Use" criteria as it wasn't journalistic, educational, and was used to specifically advertise the church (hence the stencil around the "Incredibles" logo.)
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JohnT
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Capitalist
Mar 1999
time: 00:20
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I've got a couple of auto-responses...
From Disney:
quote:
Thank you for your message. We want you to know that we very much
appreciate the time you took to bring this matter to our attention.
We regard our investigations as confidential. We do not reveal our
sources and you will not hear from us again about this matter unless we
require further information.
Please feel free to use this email address (tips@disneyantipiracy.com)
or our Antipiracy voice mail hotline, 818-560-3300, if you want to
report a suspected infringement in the future.
Sincerely,
Antipiracy Group, Corporate Legal
The Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, California 91521-0644 |
From Pixar...
quote:
Greetings, stranger from the outside! We welcome your contact. Your questions are many, so we must respond to you as one. May you find what you seek here!
Thank you for contacting publicity@pixar.com. Regrettably, due to the large amount of email we receive from cyberspace, we are unable to respond personally to your message.
Below are answers to a number of frequently asked questions. We hope they will provide the information or direction you are seeking.
Media Inquiries:
If you are a journalist seeking an interview with a Pixar employee, please send an email message containing the pertinent details (the nature of the story, the person with whom you wish to speak, your deadline, information regarding your publication/outlet, etc.) to pressinquiries@pixar.com.
Donations, Charities, Scholarships:
Pixar's charitable giving focuses most often on local organizations that benefit children. We receive many requests for donations that meet these criteria and take a great deal of care in determining which initiatives to support. Regrettably, we are not able to accommodate all of the worthy requests we receive.
Pixar does not have a scholarship program at this time.
Student Projects:
We receive a large number of requests for information in connection with student projects, and unfortunately are not able to respond to each one personally. However, on our website we have posted answers to many of the most commonly asked questions about the work that Pixar does and the animation industry as a whole. You can view that information on our FAQ.
Licensing Questions, Copyright Questions, Screening Questions:
To request permission to screen one of Pixar's feature films, or to use our characters or other intellectual property in a book or in any other way, please send an email message containing the pertinent details (the material you wish to use, the manner in which you wish to use it, etc.) to licensing@pixar.com.
Speaking Requests:
If you wish to contact Pixar regarding a potential speaking engagement, please send an email message describing the opportunity (the nature, date and location of the event, who you wish to have speak, etc.) to speaking-engagements@pixar.com.
Tour Requests:
Pixar is a closed working studio and does not offer tours to the public.
The Incredibles DVD
For technical assistance with The Incredibles DVD, visit us at http://www.theincredibles.com/support or call 1-800-723-4763 (US)/ 1-888-877-2843 (Canada). |
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20-07-2005 04:56
), then it doesn't fall under the Fair Use clause/doctrine/whatever.
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