Warner Bros. Forced To Fight For Fair Use

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday May 21, 2011 @07:33AM from the crossing-the-aisle dept.

V-similitude writes with news that Warner Bros. has been forced into a position of claiming 'fair use' in the defense of an upcoming movie. From the NYTimes: "In The Hangover Part II, the sequel to the very successful what-happened-last-night comedy, the character played by Ed Helms wakes up with a permanent tattoo bracketing his left eye. The Maori-inspired design is instantly recognizable as the one sported by the boxer Mike Tyson, which is part of the joke. (Mr. Tyson makes an appearance in both films, playing himself.) But S. Victor Whitmill, a tattoo artist formerly of Las Vegas and currently from rural Missouri, doesn't quite see the humor. Mr. Whitmill designed the tattoo for Mr. Tyson, called it 'tribal tattoo,' and claims it as a copyrighted work. ... Warner Brothers in its brief also invoked the 'fair use' defense for Hangover Part II, namely the right to parody what has become a well-known tattoo since it first appeared on Mr. Tyson’s face in February 2003."

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Re:Fair use when it suits them by The+Dawn+Of+Time · 2011-05-21 08:03 · Score: 0, Flamebait

I'm saying we, right now, have more creative works and greater access to them than at any point in history. The system, flawed as it may be, works.
Ideals are fine and wonderful and have never, ever worked.
So yeah, I come down on the winning side.