Slashdot Mirror
Photoshop Disaster Draws DMCA Notice For Boing Boing
Pickens writes: "Cory Doctorow writes that Ralph Lauren issued a DMCA takedown notice after Boing Boing republished the Photoshop disaster contained in a Ralph Lauren advertisement in which a model's proportions appear to have been altered to give her an impossibly skinny body with the model's head larger than her pelvis. Doctorow says that one of the things that makes their ISP Priority Colo so awesome is that they don't automatically act on DMCA takedowns and proceeded to dare Lauren to sue. 'This is classic fair use: a reproduction "for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting," etc,' writes Doctorow. 'Copyright law doesn't give you the right to threaten your critics for pointing out the problems with your offerings.' Doctorow adds that every time Lauren threatens to sue he will 'reproduce the original criticism, making damned sure that all our readers get a good, long look at it,' 'publish your spurious legal threat along with copious mockery,' and 'offer nourishing soup and sandwiches to your models.'"
That Boing Boing was able to get us the skinny on this.
Help save the critically endangered Blue Iguana
The DMCA needs to be updated to have two points in it:
1) Filing a claim that isn't supported by copyright law is fraudulent under the good faith premise of the filing process
2) No guilty intent on the part of the filer is necessary for it to be civilly or criminally actionable.
If you're some dumbass who files a report that is incompatible with the law, without knowing what the law says, no matter how right you thought you were, you should be guilty.
This is one of the few areas where my instinct says that a guilty mind should not be necessary at all to punish someone.
The ISP is in Canada? Why should they comply with a US law?
No sig for you!!
s/tap/snap/ig
Touched By His Noodley Appendage.
Found the link in a BoingBoing comment
http://www.ralphlauren.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3558821&camp=affiliate_k108283
She looks more human here.
I propose that photoshop-skinnying models is probably analogous to heavily salting food: the more you do it, the more desensitized you become to it, until you reach a point where it still seems natural to you but ridiculously overdone to everyone else.
In a few years, when this is forgotten, Ralphy will remember this as one of the skeletons in his closet.
I am the lawn!
Schindler's List 2: This time, he's checking it twice
The ISP in question is Canadian.
I attended a talk by Michael Geist, where he said that 30% of Canadian ISPs comply with DMCA takedowns. This figure was presented by some pro-copyright lobby as "shocking" evidence that Canada is a lawless place where copyright isn't respected.
Geist agreed that it was shocking - but for a different reason. He said it was shocking that 30% of our ISPs caved to a law from a foreign country, and complied with a request they had no legal requirement or authority to obey.
More up-to-date, BB has posted that Ralph Loren has admitted a "my bad," and that they promise to be more diligent about it in the future. Scroll to just above the comments.
Diplomacy is the art of saying, "Nice doggie!" until you can find a rock.