Death of Star Wars parody designs?
Today I had a take down notice from Redbubble for my “Trap!” t-shirt (see below) requested directly from Lucas Films. Does this not fall into the ‘parody’ category? Do they have the right to call foul on my design, given that its a pretty basic (and poor) drawing that only roughly resembles one of their characters? It could be any amphibious looking Alien creature, really…
There are sooooooo many Star Wars related designs on the site, and not just on Redbubble… Star Wars parodies are everywhere, the majority of which are much closer to the copyrighted material than my crappy drawing is… Are they going after the whole internet?
Should I kick up a fuss? I don’t think i’ve even sold one of these, and it was just a drawing for my girl friend, so i don’t really mind if it goes down, it just bothers me that it has been picked on considering some of the other works I see daily.
Cookie for a thought?
Comments
You are not alone Alex, many of us have suffered the same fate recently. Lucas Films have been rather busy with DMCA notices over the last few weeks on RB. I’m not too sure of their selection process as not all of my Star Wars themed designs were targeted… only my three most popular ;o( I have a feeling they will eventually catch the rest of mine in their net soon.
Do they have the right to call foul on my design,
Yes, yes they do. The very fact that you originally identified it as a Star Wars design means that it is derivative.
A lot of people make the same mistake that you have made when it comes to the “Parody Exemption” under “Fair Use” & Copyright.
1. “Parody” as a statute only exists in the USA.
2. For "Parody to gain exemption from copyright under the terms of Fair Use, it must do more than make fun of something. It must also make a commentary about that thing. This is because "Commentary IS an exemption to copyright.
3. You can not simply claim “parody”. Parody as an exemption has only ever been decided on a case by case basis in a court of law.
The fact is this:
Fan Art is “derivative art” and unless you have permission from the original artist or copyright owner, or your work qualifies for exemption under Fair Use, then your work is illegal and you actually do not have any rights to it… those rights belong to the original artist or copyright owner.
Click on the following tutorials for more information about Copyright & Dmca:
THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO COPYRIGHT & DMCA – Part 1
THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO COPYRIGHT & DMCA – Part 2
THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO COPYRIGHT & DMCA – Part 3
THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO COPYRIGHT & DMCA – Part 4
Fair enough then!
I rarely go down the ‘parody/pop culture’ route with my designs, I prefer doing original pieces, so i’m not set to lose anything by groups like Lucas Films actively shutting down infringements. I do wonder how sites will be impacted by this, particularly pop culture based sites like Tee Fury, who constantly have Star Wars related parodies selling highly. Even on Redbubble, the ‘Most popular t-shirts of all time’ tab had at least 5 or so Star Wars designs.
Very interesting.
– ayarti
I think some sites will feel the impact of DMCA, but quite rightly so too. It is something that has been going on for too long now, and finally artists have a powerful tool at their disposal to protect their rights.
Personally I would rather see everyone put their energies into creating new and original art… although I must admit that there is some damned fine derivatove art out there!
I totally agree, like I said, I’ve always tried to stick to original works, despite the allure of the pop-culture mashup boom. There are some brilliant artists out there that do some brilliant derivative works, no question, it will be interesting to see how they change up now.
– ayarti
Just happened to all my star wars designs.