Agreeish Theft of Art by a MAJOR Corporation!

[Bongo]

Artists don't let your precious artwork be stolen by unscrupulous corporations. Don't let what happened to this fellow artist happen to you.
We artists must be vigilant and prosecute to the full letter of the law our unique work made from our sweat and tears. Thinking of starting a go-fund-me account for this fellow creative.

Netflix Stole My VHS Cassette Photos for Its Stranger Things Boxed Set

Maybe you’re aware of Netflix. Maybe you even have a subscription for their services. You might have also heard of or watched a series called Stranger

petapixel.com

 

[Artyczar]

I never watch this show, but of course I know about it. It's hard to press charges on something like this because it's an idea, not exactly a violation of an image.

 

[Bongo]

oh, the article is not about "Stranger Things "-- it's about the black VHS cassette case that was in a print ad that Netflix ran (in 2017).

This guy sees the Netflix ad and from the mold on the yellow sticker, refections, and tape position on the case realizes that Netflix swiped HIS photo from the internet and then just added the "Stranger Things" label.

So the article is about the correspondence and run-around that he went thru to get Netflix to compensate him for using his photo of a blank VHS cassette for their ad.

I found it ironic that this guy gets all up-in-arms about a swiped photo of a blank VHS tape - goes to the end of the earth to be duly compensated for such an outlandish copyright violation, whereas the comic book publishers just shrugged off Licthensteins transgressions.

 

[Artyczar]

I get it. I know it's not about the show. I was just saying that it doesn't seem like it could be a strong lawsuit because it's not really stealing anything. I mean, I understand they are photos and they look to be exact, but it's more the idea than anything else, which can't be copyrighted. The corporation should have used their own photos. That was dumb of them.

And I agree, it seems ridiculous in the face of all these other people who lift off of other artists and get away with it. It's the job of the artist who is being stolen from to pursue the lawsuits however. That's the way it works.

 

[Bartc]

It's the job of the artist who is being stolen from to pursue the lawsuits however. That's the way it works.

Yes, it is, but the way copyright, trademark and patent law works is patently (pun intended) unfair to the little guy. Your legal protection is only as strong as your willingness to rapidly and diligently protect unauthorized use, which pits the little artist/inventor/businessperson against some very large and well-funded, lawyered up corporations. This "David" can only hope some major organization decides to put rocks in his sling, so Goliath almost always walks away laughing.

 

[Artyczar]

You are correct. Not much you can do without a lawyer. You can only throw a lawyer-type document together and send it them to cease and desist. Few copyright lawyers work pro-bono for artists, but they do exist.

 

[Bongo]

Netflix, a big corporation didn't take their own photo, they hired a big corporate ad agency, who gave the job to an underpaid copywriter, who gave the job to an underpaid assistant. And when the assistant didn't deliver the copy in 15minutes, the copywriter went down in the basement and found the assistant setting up lights and backdrop, tripod, to take a photo of blank VHS tape. So the copywriter chewed his ass out and told him he had three minutes to grab something from the internet or he's fired.

 

[Bartc]

Bongo, that's certainly plausible. Is also laughable.Is that a true story or did you make it up?

 

[Bongo]

made up.

I was reading the comments section of a comics blog, and several people were grousing about Lichenstein and others violating copyright laws. Ironically most of them had iconic comic book characters as their logos.