(Untitled)

[glockgal]

AVATAR: ZAZZLE/VIACOM FAIL
Wow. OH WOW. All but one of the products on my racebending.com Zazzle store has been removed because "it contained content in violation of Viacom's intellectual property rights". This means not just images (all of which were drawn by me), but also WORDS

Comments

[cathybites]

HOW DO THEY KNOW YOU'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT YOUR ADOPTED BROTHER AANG? PTHBBBBBBBBBBT.

[glockgal]

Clearly Viacom already knows my adopted brother's name is Aan...yong.

Ba dum bup ching!

[cathybites]

Better keep an eye on your frozen banana stand.

[raucousraven]

*loooooooooooooves*

[woldy]

I can't believe they are alleging that constitutes copyright infringement - even if you were using their words and images (which you imply that you weren't) then copyright includes a provision for fair use when one is critiquing something! Jeez, there's an entire film about copyright and fair use being distributed at the moment called RiP: A Remix Manifesto and if they got all-clear from their lawyers then I find it hard to believe that you're in violation.

So, my suggestion - yes, it's cheeky of me to make one & I hope it doesn't offend you - is to write "censored by Viacom" in big red letters across the products they've removed from zazzle & distribute them anyway. I'd wear a t-shirt like that.

[glockgal]

Fo sho! I logged into the zazzle account and noticed that they deleted the products, but not the images. And what I had created the t-shirts from were these:

[woldy]

Sounds like Zazzle are running scared of Viacom even though it seems unlikely (I'm not a lawyer, so I can't say for sure) that they have a remotely legitimate copyright infringement case. Motherf*ckers.

[brown_betty]

The one that makes my head implode with rage is the guy in a parka and mukluks; no, Viacom, YOU DO NOT FUCKING OWN PORTRAYALS OF THE INUIT.

But nice of them to acknowledge that Katara and Sokaa are kinda inuit-ish, I GUESS.

[sinick]

IANAL, but I really think they can't do jack legally about the Aang shirt, because names alone can't be copyrighted.

For years and years in Australia there was a chain of clothing stores called Gandalf's Garden - I understand the Tolkien estate weren't happy, but they couldn't actually stop the store from using the name.

I think they have to go to the extra trouble of actually trademarking a name, before it's legally protected (like Harry Potter is trademarked).

[glockgal]

I had to google 'IANAL'. XD XD

For true thought - I get Harry Potter or Mickey Mouse being copyrighted - but seriously, a BLUE ARROW? I have no idea if 'Aang' is copyrighted/trademarked as well....I somehow doubt it.

[parsimonia]

I was looking at the Zazzle page the other day and I thought I was just being dense and couldn't navigate it! Because I knew there had been a wider variety of shirts the first time I'd looked.

Stupid awful evil Viacom! Arg. What about using similar sites like SpreadShirt or CafePress? Or are they not as good?

[glockgal]

YEAH. I'm sure someone reported the site, but I figure this time around I should just be more subtle, more cheeky and more brazen. :D

I honestly really like zazzle and chose it over cafepress. I had no idea about SpreadShirt, though! I should check it out. :D

[rosalarian]

Try mysoti.com.

[caterfree10]

Pardon my language, but FUCK VIACOM. I swear, between the free advertisement they're deleting on YouTube (ie, AMVs and the like) and this bullshit here (they're censoring the movement so obviously, it isn't even funny), Viacom can DIAF as far as I'm concerned. >_>

Also, unless the names are copyright, they can't do jack shit on the text only shirts. Granted, they have no legal standing as it is with the images being done by you as it is, but goddamn, they are being so stupid!

The more stupid shit Viacom does, the less surprised I am that the Racefail happened. God knows no one at that company had any fucking sense to begin with. *glares at screwed up Season 3 episode release schedule and the Sozin's Comet book fiasco*

[glockgal]

I'm still a little in shock that this even got to Viacom's radar. I'm almost wondering if I got reported by someone NOT working at Viacom, and Zazzle just listend to them because they claimed it was a Viacom copyright violation.

Although, if it really was Viacom that'd be...kinda scary-awesome that they're THAT intimidated by an at-cost, grass roots protesting product store....

[caterfree10]

Maybe it's because of the YouTube fiasco, but I'm more inclined to believe Viacom's behind this bullhockey. Still, they are your images and there's no point to doing this. I say make a new account and sell 'em again.

And if that last bit is true, I'd laugh my ass off! XD