3 Count: Ghost Rider

Jonathan BaileyAugust 1, 2012

2 minutes read

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Anonymous Declares War on T-Shirt Maker Over Logo Copyright

First off today, Alex Fitzpatrick at Mashable writes that Anonymous is targeting a French retailer that has filed paperwork to attempt to trademark the famous Anonymous logo, namely the headless man in a suit. The t-shirt maker, Pickapop.fr, already offers several Anonymous-based shirt designs but has made the move to secure a trademark in the logo. However, this is likely to prompt a strong response from the group, which seems to already be planning operations against the site. At least one Twitter account associated with Anonymous points out that the logos are already licensed under a Creative Commons License, meaning that they are already free for use and that obtaining a trademark may be more difficult the site thinks.

2: Ghost Rider Copyright Case Looks to Silver Surfer For Help

Next up today, Russ Burlingame of Comicbook.com writes that Gary Friedrich, one of the co-creators of the “Ghost Rider” comic book is appealing a summary judgment against him and is turning to Silver Surfer for help. Friedrich has been suing to regain control of the iconic character but Marvel, the current owners, claimed that they had a work for hire agreement with Friedrich and not only got the case tossed, but also hit Friedrich with a $17,000 summary judgment for his selling of signed drawings at conventions, something Marvel said was “bootleg merchandise”. However, Friedrich is appealing and noting that Silver Surfer, another marvel character created around that time, was not under such an agreement. Friedrich is also claiming that the “back of the check” rights transfers, which were required of freelancers working for Marvel, are unduly burdensome.

3: Unfair Use?

Finally today, Steven Rosenbaum at the Columbia Journalism Review writes that he had his TEDX talk taken off of YouTube following a copyright complaint by Starz Media. The reason is that Rosenbaum, as part of his talk, showed a clip of his documentary “7 Days in September”. Starz acquired the rights to the film when they purchased Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2004, demanded the video removed. However, when Rosenbaum reached out to Starz they lifted the ban and the video was returned to the Web. But, as Rosenbaum pointed out, the right in question was an expired one as the distribution rights had gone back to Rosenbaum, though Starz was seemingly unaware of that change.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.