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Another Photographer Angry: NORML Rides the Bandwagon

By Brian C. Ledbetter · Friday, August 7. 2009 14:34
Duuuuuude.
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws has designed a rather curious poster to celebrate their upcoming junket.

Understandably enough, the photographer responsible for the original picture is right hopping mad at the unrighteous appropriation of her 30-year-old snapshot.

But, as with the Manny Garcia controversy, the photograph has been out in the public domain since before the election, and no effort has been made to stop its misuse, so there's a case to be made that NORML is merely using their freedom of expression to comment on a current event.

On the other hand, just about every ad I run across on the Internet talks about how Obama is asking mothers to do this or Obama wants you to refinance that, so is it really about commentary and current events?

Or is NORML just trying to ride the same old focus-group tested bandwagon that all of the people who make those buck-fifty Google Ads (and the entire magazine publishing industry) are riding on?

Update: I held off on publishing this one while I waited to get some statements from the folks at NORML. Since they don't seem to be responding, and the esteemed Daryl Lang has written on the topic, I'm going to go ahead and publish.

If either NORML or Ms. Jack has a problem with the usage of the poster above, please contact me immediately.
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Here is what a handful of random people think about this article. But first, the fine print:
The opinions expressed here, even where approved for display, do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this website, the management, or any other entity or organization, with the exception of the Vast Zionist Conspiracy. Those opinions we represent in style, yo. Please keep the language in these comments clean, as this is intended to be a family-friendly, work-friendly website. Comments not compliant with this policy will be edited for content where necessary. Abusive or otherwise illegal comments will be reported to the proper authorities, up to and including the aforementioned Vast Zionist Conspiracy. The Management cannot and will not be held responsible for commenters making a spectacle of themselves, even if The Management are the said commenters in question. In other words, don't take yourself so seriously, folks. We're all here to discuss the news, and more importantly, to have fun. Now go get yourself into some OCD treatment program—you obviously need it if you actually read all of this mess.

captainfish on 2009-08-08 15:01 #1
*Isn't one of the planks with copyright protection is that you have to show that you have actively sought to protect that right? If you just sit back and do nothing for years while your "works" are used willy nilly by others, then you can't then come back later and claim protection.

If it can be shown that the photo's author has tried in his limited capacity, and it is shown that the poster's author is making money from another's work, then that does violate even my open-view of copyright protection.
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