Haunters are people who run or work for haunted attractions. Not only do they have their own nonprofit associations, they also engage in branded charity. Here's the latest:
The Haunted Attraction Industry joins the fight against breast cancer. Some of the most prominent names that make “Scary” their business are pulling every skeleton out of the ground to raise money for Nancy Allen, a fellow Haunter/pervious Haunt Owner. Allen, who is also known as “Elmyra, the Hearse Chic”, was misdiagnosed in August 2007 with what doctors referred to as “only a cyst”. On December 25th, Allen was diagnosed with Stage 3 Cancer, resulting in her having to have one breast immediately removed. Like millions of Americans, Miss Allen has no health insurance.
The Official Drive, “Haunters for Hooters”, will take place at Midwest Haunters Convention in Columbus, Ohio June 13-15th. Included in the sponsor list are BIG names like “Midnight Syndicate Films and Soundtracks”, “IAHA”, “Haunted Attraction Magazine”, “Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando”, "Sinister Visions", "The Ghoulish Gallery”, Dee Snider from Twisted Sister, Pat Priest from “The Munsters” and Camden Toy from “Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer” just to name a few.
The image above is from Mole!, a classic Mad story by the late Will Elder. It holds a special significance for me because it was the story that got me into the letter pages of Batman, which for young me was pretty much my life's goal. The deal: a Batman adventure did an homage adaption of this story, and I wrote a goofy letter making the connection.
I'm in a University meeting today far from my scanner, so I'll have to post the page from Batman 345 later. For now, Will Elder--rest in peace.
Just one of the digital collections available on Public Collectors, via the Groundswell Collective. I love the contrasting facial expressions on these two signs.
Via Yoga Journal, a fascinating look at the Sanghamitra sex workers collective. The posts are full of social enterprisey stuff, including the linked coincidental reference in the following paragraph:
In Indian mythology, Sanghamitra is the beautiful and wise daughter of Emperor Asoka, and the solitary motivation for his transformation from ruthless despot to a peaceful disciple of Buddhism. Sanghamitra, the providential name chosen by the women, is predestined to signify extraordinary change in their lives, toward a better, brighter future of hope and well-being.
Maya, the President of Sanghamirta, rose and made a speech welcoming those of us gathered in the room. Each office member stood and placed a beautiful purple scarf around our necks.
And how a Westerner ended up teaching yoga in India:
When I asked them if they'd like to try yoga, they giggled and clapped like little girls—perhaps feeling like they were being naughty or breaking a law. Apparently the practice of yoga doesn't make its way past India's deeply-established tradition of sex and discrimination. Unfortunately, the people who could really benefit from its healing and emancipation properties were denied because of their place in society.
I knew yoga's health benefits might not interest them. And since most of the women are Hindi and devotion is an intrinsic part of their culture, I spoke about how we can use our bodies as an expression of our devotion. I explained how each gesture, including the placement of the hand, the expansion of the lungs, and the turn of the spine, is an offering. I told them that yoga practice is a living ritual and an embodied prayer.
On The Beat, Heidi MacDonald points us to the latest on the effort to raise money for comics legend Gene Colan.* The issue she notes--the lack of royalties for creators throughout much of comics history--is an important one to highlight, as the radically different market conditions can be hard for folks growing up today to comprehend.
Another thing I find myself explaining to disbelieving students every year: that the tax system doesn't allow you to take a deduction for donations made to individuals, however well-deserving. However, folks who want to help out beyond the Colan fundraiser AND get a tax deduction are in luck--they can make tax-deductible contributions to the 501(c)(3) Hero Initiative. The Initiative also makes much-needed revenue from selling signed comics, but remember: you can't take a deduction for the price of things you buy unless the charity documents that you've paid more than market value.
*Heidi's featured Colan cover was one of my favorites when I was collecting comics as a little tyke--for a while I bought literally every copy I found. Besides the picture, never underestimate the power of "SPECIAL ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME ISSUE!!" on a nine-year old.
Today--right now, in fact--I'm in a university training colloquium. I just advised someone how to handle people who use their computers to do stuff besides take notes.
Hey, I'm multitasking!
Anyway, the nuts-and-bolts rundown of university biz by the President was actually quite interesting if you're into charitable law-and-biz stuff, which I happen to be so that worked out fine.
Another surprising thing about the meeting: the room. All street-art or pop art. One wall: Warhol. Another: Lichtenstein. The third: Keith Haring, who actually grew up in PA Dutch country just a short jump from me. In fact, right by the flea market where I'd go every week to buy old comics was Haring Printing.
And not too far from Haring-land: the hometown on Jim Steranko & Chip Kidd. Must have been all the hex signs.
Pictured above: the glorious restoration of Haring's landmark mural on Houston & Bowery. From the photographer:
His famous mural on Houston Street and Bowery from 1982 recreated. The Keith Haring Foundation together with Deitch Projects and Goldman Properties have worked with Gothic Scenic who is reproducing the mural using extensive photographic documentation of the artwork of the legendary artist which first appeared 25 years ago. "To ensure color-matching accuracy, original samples were procured by scraping away layers of paint on the wall until pieces of the original image were revealed.
The Epemerist reports the sale of Mel Ramos' Green Lantern for 500K. For more on Ramos and superheroes in pop art, check out the invaluable Funny Cuts. This is precisely the sort of art sale that is attracting attention from companies holding the copyright & trademark rights to such characters. Here's a brief note on the law in a comment on the Beat.
I know it's tempting to say that companies should turn a blind eye to IP infringement if it benefits a good cause, but we need to keep in mind what happens when charity becomes the safe haven for illegal activity.
1990s Russia provides a telling example. Nonprofits played a major role in the decline of Soviet power--for almost twenty years, a strong network of seemingly non-ideological associations evolved slowly to create a powerful and trusted alternative to the corrupt Communist Party. Within five years of the Soviet Union's collapse, the trust was gone, in large part because the new government took a laissez-faire attitude to charitable commerce and fundraising. The result was an unholy alliance between organized crime and leading charities, who joined together to exploit legal loopholes for the alleged common good.
I know it's rough to get a C&D, and yes, corporations sometimes do overstep their bounds. But it's equally important to remember that small things add up to big things, and if we're not careful charity can become the leading venue for traffic in illicit merchandise.
The story of Siegel and Shuster is full of complex legal turns, but it's also an amazing story of how two teens can change the world. Marc Tyler Nobleman's new children's book on the creators is scheduled to be out in time for the San Diego con, and I bet it will be enlightening for adults as well.
Above: Be careful what you wish for . . .
Remember a week or so ago when I posted that charity is not a viable defense to IP infringement? Some well-meaning folk in the charity biz said I was being "contentious," but the fact is, this is the law. You can defy it or pretend it doesn't exist, but if you do there can be serious consequences.
Case in point: the cancellation of the Say It Backwards Superman auctions for Candlelighters. Whether or not you think the move is good PR, Time Warner--if it did indeed file the objection--has solid legal grounds for asking eBay to pull the items containing its trademarks or copyrighted characters.
Why would a company risk a backlash by taking action against charity? And what about the common practice of artists selling commissioned works featuring DC or Marvel heroes? I'm in the middle of grading exams so our overview will have to be brief, but here are a few important things to note:
Superman: Note that the first two auctions targeted for withdrawal featured Superman. As we've discussed at length elsewhere, DC is in a particularly sensitive situation regarding profits derived from this character. If there were any property that Time Warner lawyers would want to control to the fullest extent possible, Superman would be it.
Charity: Even if you are donating the proceeds to charity, selling others' intellectual property or using it to solicit donations typically constitutes infringement if you do it without permission. Nonprofits have skirted by on this for years, but the market is growing too large to ignore.
Maintaining the mark: Even if it is infringement, why would a company want to take money away from a charity? The following observation from Counterfeit Chic applies to DC as well--
The simplest answer is that their job is to protect [the company's] trademarks. And, legally speaking, they're supposed to object to unauthorized commercial distribution of those marks. A trademark holder that doesn't enforce its rights can ultimately lose them, as the marks may be considered abandoned or even generic. Every time you ask for a Kleenex instead of a tissue or make a Xerox instead of a photocopy, a trademark lawyer somewhere gets another grey hair.
The first sale doctrine: A commenter on Boing Boing brought up the first sale doctrine, but that doesn't apply here. In a nutshell, the first sale doctrine is what allows you to sell or otherwise dispose of an authorized copy of material that you've purchased. For example, if you bought a Superman comic you can sell or lend that copy to someone else without DC's permission. The same is true, say, for legally distributed original art from a published comic book.
However, that's not what appears to have been pulled from the auction. It seems that these drawings were unauthorized--DC never gave the artists permission to use its protected material. Even if someone else had previously purchased the items and donated them to the auction, DC had the right to try to take these drawings off the market. From a legal perspective, the items were no different from a bootleg t-shirt.
Artist commissions: Yes, it's true that a number of comic artists sell commissioned artwork depicting DC and Marvel characters, but that doesn't mean it's all legal. Some of it may indeed be authorized, expressly allowed under a provision in the artist's contract with the company. Yet absent an agreement allowing an artist to sell such work, a commission is arguably infringing a company's intellectual property to the extent that it includes trademarked or copyrighted material.
There are several reasons why DC and Marvel have turned a blind eye to such unauthorized artwork, such as the desire to maintain positive relations with certain artists or the relatively small and inconspicuous scale of the trade. However, as the market for commissioned work grows and efforts to protect company marks generally become more rigorous, the likelihood of legal action stands to increase.
In this regard, pay particular attention to the artists in SIB auction. These weren't just pros with an established relationship with DC--there were also amateurs offering their own interpretations of company characters. For instance, one of the artists listed is Paul Salvi, who, if it's the same guy, is currently one of the people trying to win a DC deal through the Zuda Comics competition.
Which brings us to . . .
Derivative works: If you read my series on Blog@, you might recall a creator who adds distinct new elements to a company's copyrighted material may hold the copyright to that original work. It's why a court held that Neil Gaiman owns Medieval Spawn, and the same legal doctrine was recently cited--unsuccessfully--by one fan artist in a lawsuit to claim the copyright in Batman Beyond.
A lawyer looking at a burgeoning trade in unauthorized art will at least think about the possibility that someone may turn around and sue DC for copyright infringement. One way to reduce the likelihood of such a suit succeeding is for the company to state that it has a policy of not reviewing unsolicited work; another strategy is to discourage artists from producing such material without a contract defining the rights.
Parting thoughts: As some have said, Time Warner could have held back or sought a negotiated solution, and it's possible that the company might relent. Nonetheless, it is also important for charities and fundraisers to understand that at a time when unauthorized copying is rampant, companies are becoming more aggressive in policing their rights. To avoid an unpleasant situation, the best time to address intellectual property issues is before the C&D.
UPDATE: SIP has a few additional comments on the situation. Because a couple of them seem to refer to this post, I'll address them:
(1) My reference to the C&D is in the last paragraph, where I was advising charities generally re what to do. I did not state that SIP itself received a C&D. I debated using something incident-specific like "takedown notice" but went with the broader term. Re the present situation, as I indicated in the second paragraph above, I'm not even stating as fact that the WB itself filed the original complaint to eBay, since I haven't seen the original notice; rather, my post simply addresses the applicable legal principles that could prompt such an action.
(2) Even if SIP meant it wryly after the fact, putting up the S-shield with the comment quoted above was not the wisest course of action if the aim is to work out an agreement to resume the charitable auction, nor does it do any favors for the aspiring professionals contributing to the auction. Lawyers are all too familiar with artists trying to make their name off of others' IP; the post in question links the blog to an agenda that they might not exactly help the contributors' own bid for advancement. This sort of thing is precisely why companies are becoming so rigorous in policing their marks.
We should add to the above another concern with which most folks supporting charity may not be familiar: namely, the heightened scrutiny of charitable fundraising and sales. Indiscriminate association of a company's marks with a charity could have serious negative repercussions for the brand. Is the money indeed going to charity? Who monitors this? Is the charity legitimate and is it using the funds effectively? If a well-meant charitable effort turns out to be problematic, it could severely tarnish the mark, which is why companies may prefer to vet a charity itself before allowing its marks to be used to raise funds.
Again, I'm speaking generally regarding the considerations that guide corporate action; I'm not making any allegations about the charity in question here or about SIP. My primary aim is to help charities understand the current environment and how they can avoid unwanted situations.
Topic: Venture Initiation and Entrepreneurship.
Fear: That I'll be the guy who gives FedEx a C.
But as I tell my students, grades are outmoded anyway, a relic of a time when the role of education was to certify dutiful employees in an industrial economy. It's an entirely different set of assumptions from what makes for a successful entrepreneur.
Odd moment in the 1941 wartime romance The Very Thought of You, broadcast today on TCM. A soldier and his girlfriend go to Pasadena City Hall to get hitched before he ships out. Accompanying them: her sixteen-year-old sister. In the waiting room for the Justice of the Peace there are several other couples, including one that looks likes a couple of high schoolers. The young girl in that couple says she's sixteen and advises the sister to get married too.
Peacetime (or at least the cultural marginalization of war), the knowledge economy, the democratization of higher education, the advancement of women professionals and yes, birth control--these and other factors dramatically alter the incentives to get women married off at a young age.
Last Thursday night I posted a picture of the comic that appeared on the evening's episode of Lost. I enjoy the show for any number of reasons, but perhaps the most compelling is its grounding in the island metaphor.
From Plato's Atlantis to Gilligan, think back through the last couple millennia and you'll see island metaphors recurring in times of dramatic technological change. The immediate popularity of Lost echoes the emergence of yet another island metaphor that I think is not unrelated: the image of computing as an array of virtual islands connected by virtual rafts.
Extend the metaphor to the planet or universe as an information processing array and you can see how the metaphor would appeal in an era defined by hyper-connectivity. Space and time collapse as we each find ourselves acting as a localized agent in a complex array where all is accessible if you know how to chart the course.
And even if you have the know-how to get from one place to another, that doesn't mean you understand what's going on.
Archie Comics version of Lost via Three Men in a Tub
Via TheDieline:
Debranded home is a new way of thinking about products and their presence into our houses: many of us prefer to show anonimous packs into their toilets, in spite of branded ones.
Debranded home created two series of sticker to personalize each bottle we may have at home.
In my opinion, they made the opposite, creating a precise brand and giving to the end user the possibility of creating his personal pack, against the market proposals.
Via About:Blank
Available from Alyssa Ravenwood:
Superhero or Villain? Outlaw or Outlandish? Rescuing the fair maiden or rescuing yourself, thank you very much! You provide the motive; this mask provides your disguise.
I agree; this is a most telling response:
Harvard is an investment bank with a mom-and-pop non-profit enterprise attached to it for tax purposes.
This PSA campaign tries to garner support for the movement against female genital mutilation by portraying the victims as blow up sex dolls, right down to the prefab wide-open mouth ready and waiting to give oral stimulation. Is this really the most effective way to persuade folks--particularly sex-obsessed guys threatened by female sexual autonomy--that the practice is a bad thing?
Jezebel asks what is clearly the most pressing question raised by Sex and the City:
[W]hy didn't any of the women ever date . . . someone who worked for a non-profit? The reason is pretty obvious. Even though Sarah Jessica Parker thinks that Carrie didn't care about her boyfriends' money, the glittering aura of wealth is part of the Sex world, and very much defines its social rules.
Another reason to promote social enterprise, I guess. Or not.
Just like baby boomers think they discovered sex, today's do-gooder revolutionaries believe that they're first to revolutionize charity by making it more business-like. But if you do a little historical digging, you soon realize that social enterprise is just the latest variation on a recurring theme.
Case in point: this article from Mad #72, available on this essential DVD set from NYC's own GIT Corp. The article is response to the then-current trend of remaking charity in the image of commercial business, complete with outcome metrics, efficiency-maximizing strategy and Madison Avenue marketing campaigns.
The earlier movement's most notable effect: the enactment of the public charity/private foundation legal so-called reforms that are the bane of today's social enterprise start-ups. We're headed in a similar direction today, but we could still avoid it--and the the best place to start is by taking humor more seriously as a cultural barometer.
When audience shots are a necessary part of the show but the show isn't hot enough to fill all the seats, people are paid to be part of the audience. Via this Animal account of an American Gladiator taping:
And yeah, being an audience member is as phony as the rest of the show; its a paying gig! A steady thing gangbangers, failed actors, those to dull witted to hold down a security guard gig. And the American Gladiator producers never let these marginal types forget they are the lowest of the low. They're kept for hours on end with no water, rousted out of toilets and not compensated for a lunch hour. One sad sack who relies on "audience work" for a living said he considered complaining to the NBC over his treatment that day, didn't have the cajones. "I don't want to be black balled from this work."
By French artist Floc'h, via the Ephemerist.
By contrast, the coffee houses famously described by Jurgen Habermas went beyond the public aggregation of private spheres. They were a place where the various customers interacted amongst themselves, even if they didn't know each other before they came in.
This came to mind as I read the most recent blog post by Paul Cornell, whom some of you may recognize from the epic Dr. Who two-parter last season in which the Doctor became human:
I popped in to officially open the shop the other weekend . . . and found myself part of a warm sitcom about selling comics and actually talking to your customers. There’s already quite a social life developing around that shop, as with all the best comic retailers.
That's more like the classic model of the coffee-house-as-civil-society. The best comic shops are indeed stores that are more than stores--they are places where people connect.
The Monster Engine creates realistic paintings from children's drawings. Buy the book here. Via Trendhunter.
The Ten Year Nap is a new novel by Meg Wolitzer that explores an urban professional who left her career to become a full-time mom. Marketers spotted this demographic years ago and found ways to connect them to their gone-but-not forgotten other self.
Apparently a comment on the Tibet situation.
Dennis the Menace today is pretty safe--cute kid doing adorable things, upright parents, blah. Back in the 1950s, though, the strip was surprisingly subversive. Dennis is like the devil in Faust or Master and Margerita--his mischief exposes the more pervasive problems beneath the surface in suburban American. Basically, it's Blue Velvet with a six-year-old Dennis Hopper.