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"The principle of collage is the central principle of all art in the twentieth century." -- Donald Barthelme (1931-1989)
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Write in Mickey Mouse for President if you don't like your candidate
Mickeyforpresident.com is a new online campaign, backed by conservatives, that offers a way for Republicans to vent their anger at John McCain: write in "Mickey Mouse" for president. In most states, write-in candidates that reach a certain threshold are reported as percentages just like the normal candidates are. The group's plan is for Mickey Mouse to reach that point, as a way for voters to visibly and effectively demonstrate their disgust. The site is very careful to point out that "'Mickey Mouse'" is a registered trademark of Disney Enterprises, Inc. Fair Use applies."
Disney does tend to be very touchy about the use of its characters. One of my students this past semester once worked at Baskin & Robbins. He explained that one day Disney representatives appeared like Men in Black to determine whether the ice cream shop was making any cakes with unauthorized Disney characters on them. The use of Mickey Mouse as a write-in candidate to express dissatisfaction with the candidates on the ballot is, however, a time-honored practice. One writer claims Mickey received 400 votes in Florida in 2000, a point I don't believe was mentioned in Bush v. Gore.
And no doubt Jimmy Cauty's (one half of the KLF) extensive use of Mickey Mouse in his current artwork is a big fat raspberry directed Disney's way.
This blog is an ongoing exploration of issues related to copyright and fair use in our contemporary digital culture.The blog began and continued through April 2008 as a class project in Peter Friedman’s Legal Analysis & Writing classes at Case Western Reserve University of Law during the spring 2008 semester. The students wrote cross-motions for summary judgment in a fictional lawsuit brought by the owners of the copyright to "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)." The Plaintiffs (represented by half of my students) alleged infringement of their copyright in Que Sera, Sera by the KLF, the real-life creators of an actual recording entitled "K Cera Cera."K Cera Cera (mp3) is a recording of the Red Army Choir singing an amalgam of Que Sera, Sera and John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Happy Xmas (the War is Over). The second half of the students, of course, represented the Defendants.In the course of the students' work in researching and writing their summary judgment briefs, the professor and the students posted items here that raise and explore the legal and policy implications implicit in and related to the infringement claim and Defendants' fair use defense.The relevant documents the students had to work from were the following:
In light of the timeliness and open-endedness of the issues raised by the fictional lawsuit, the blog will continue despite the completion of the project and of the school year.
The group's plan is for Mickey Mouse to reach that point, as a way for voters to visibly and effectively demonstrate their disgust. The site is very careful to point out that "'Mickey Mouse'" is a registered trademark of Disney Enterprises, Inc. Fair Use applies."
1 comment:
Thank you for sharing
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