Parody vs. Court

[Punchgut]

When does a parody of someone or something get you in trouble? I am doing a illlustration and i would like to sell it but it walks that fine line....this is not the exact one i am talking about but it is a perfect example. Does it make a difference if it goes on t-shirts or is it a little more accepted if it is a screenprinted piece? i have always wondered how some artist got away with using "archie" or "mickey" high and if they ever got any heat....

[Kurt]

I honestly don't know, but other people have done it. Maybe you should send and e-mail to the fine folks at adbusters.com. They did a great spoof ad/poster of Ronald a few years back. I'm pretty sure they did not get in trouble and they have a large following.

check out the poster at:

http://www.adbusters.org/spoofads/food/grease/

[EMEK]

from my experience it is all about the money and the lawyers they keep. No matter how much of a parody it is. There were several parodies on starbucks that got shut down fast. anything disney gets nailed quickly. Unless you have a good lawyer too, to fight them back, they win.
BUT-- that image IS AWESOME! and big companies will most likely just ask you just to stop, once they find out about it- and thats it .
Besides, just say a proceed of the sales was going to Ronald McDevil house Charities and to Vegetarian Rehabilitation.

Here is part of the Starbucks thing:

Hot water: Starbucks sues a citizen
How a San Francisco cartoonist ticked off the Seattle java giant
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Paul Brandus | Salon | June 01, 2000

Once upon a time, Kieron Dwyer was a frappuccino addict. Today, he's in deep
latte.
Last spring, the 33-year-old San Francisco cartoonist was sued by Starbucks
for copyright infringement. Dwyer's mistake? He messed with the Seattle java
giant's squeaky-clean trademark.
In mid-1998, Dwyer created a scathing parody of the famous Starbucks logo.
Riffing on the ubiquitous coffee chain's titular longhaired mermaid, Dwyer
stuck a coffee cup in the creature's hand, a cellphone in the other, and gave
the chaste Ms. Starbucks prominent nipples and a navel ring. Instead of the
familiar "Starbucks Coffee," the outer circle now said "Consumer Whore" --
with dollar signs instead of stars.
Dwyer, who paid the rent as a professional cartoonist for Marvel and DC
Comics before launching his own comic book, Lowest Comic Denominator, began
selling the parody logo via T-shirts and stickers on his Web site. The image,
he says, captures the "crass, rampant commercialism in this country."
Dwyer contends the idea was all in fun. Starbucks didn't get the joke. Last
April, they sued.
"It's not funny," says Starbucks spokesman Alan Gulick. "Someone is taking
our property and altering it in an offensive way to make money."
Starbucks hammered Dwyer with a temporary restraining order which banned him
from displaying, marketing or selling the logo; it also sought a permanent
injunction. Starbucks also demanded that Dwyer pay damages and hand over all
T-shirt profits, even though Dwyer claims he sold the shirts at cost. (The
company declined to say how much it was seeking in damages.)
"It's beyond absurd," Dwyer says. "Like carpet-bombing an anthill."
In support of its lawsuit, Starbucks claimed the parody infringed upon the
copyright of its real logo, tarnished the Starbucks trademark and violated
California's unfair competition laws.
It's hard to see just how Starbucks -- with nearly 2,900 outlets in 14
countries and $2 billion in revenue -- could be threatened by Dwyer, an
unassuming guy who lives quietly in the Presidio area with his girlfriend.
But Dwyer seems to have touched a tender nerve.
Starbucks grew to be a giant by portraying itself as a cozy, neighborhood
spot, where people could lounge on cushy couches or read the paper while
sipping on high-tech java. Being cast as a greedy corporate parasite hardly
gels with its well-manicured image. (To its defense, Starbucks is often
considered among the best companies in America to work for, extending a wide
variety of benefits, including stock options, to all employees.)
Gulick says Starbucks reacted so strongly to Dwyer's parody because, "It's
not fair to everyone who has worked hard to make Starbucks what it is today."
Dwyer's parody hasn't exactly slowed Starbucks down. In the past year and a
half, the caffeinated monster has continued its aggressive expansion in San
Francisco and other big cities, challenging McDonald's, Barnes & Noble and
the Gap in instant recognition. Starbucks executives say they are still in
the early days of the company's growth cycle; Starbucks has its sights on
20,000 stores worldwide. In San Francisco itself, a city steeped in bohemian
lore, many small coffeehouses have been driven out of business by Starbucks'
rapacity.
"They represent things that aren't healthy," Dwyer says. "They are predatory
and virus-like."
So how does this David vs. Goliath saga end? Last Friday, federal Judge
Maxine Chesney issued a mixed ruling. According to the judge, Dwyer's parody
doesn't infringe on Starbucks' trademark. Chesney added there was little
chance that anyone could confuse the two.
Nevertheless, the judge did rule that the Starbucks logo was indeed tarnished
because of Dwyer's use of the word "whore."
Meanwhile, Dwyer can continue using and distributing his logo; he just can't
sell it for a profit.
Both sides are claiming victory.

[Punchgut]

Besides, just say a proceed of the sales was going to Ronald McDevil house Charities and to Vegetarian Rehabilitation.

i think maybe i will start a Ronald Mcdevil House for washed up rockers and artists. That adbuster thing kicked ass...

[Kurt]

yeah, Ad Buster is a pretty interesting magazine/website. Check out their whole website when you have a sec.

[needles]

Parody for fun is OK.
Parody for profit is entirely different.
Stay away from this one. They will fry your ass and serve it to you for lunch. Then you'll be eating your own ass, with everyone watching you, and it will taste like shit, because are own ass never tastes as good as another, not to mention...McEvil is SOO obvious! Where's the irony there?



"Stop wiggling!" -John Wayne Gacy

[EMEK]

i was taught 2 things, never discourage anyone from being an artist, no matter how much they suck, an artistic voice is better than another insurance saleman. and, never discourage anyone from giving it to the man. even obvious parody is still subversion. It means snapping just one more person who sees it out of the mold of mindless, numbing acceptance.... so that the next time they see the real corporatre logo, they might think twice.
Ofcourse, no one wants to get sodomized by Mayor McCheese either, so be careful.

[Punchgut]

that was just a example but thanks anyways alanis

[Jermaine]

Just remember...
Lucasfilm and/or Disney can make your life misereable.
For real.

[Finch]

Just remember...
Lucasfilm and/or Disney can make your life misereable.
For real.

Do you know from personal experience Jermaine?

http://www.gigposters.com/posters/5461.jpg