Charity means never having to see IP rights

Earlier this week we saw an online controversy sparked by Warner Brothers' enforcement of its intellectual property rights in material being sold in an auction to benefit charity. The criticism of the Warner action was quite familiar to anyone who has been in my gig for awhile--whatever its legal rights, the reasoning goes, no company should be so heartless as to keep money from going to a good cause.

But when companies are making decisions on IP enforcement, they're not just looking at the occasional impromptu online benefit. They see dozens (if not more) of charitable fundraising efforts using their material each year, and some of them can be quite widespread.

Here's an example: the new "Be the Hero" campaign from the World Wildlife Fund. Among wrestling fans, the WWF is perhaps best known for its draconian enforcement of its own trademark in the notorious lawsuit that forced the World Wrestling Federation to change its name to the WWE. However, in its own marketing the WWF appropriates the uniforms of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman to depict ordinary people as eco-heroes for turning off the lights and watering after 6 p.m.

The merits of the campaign aside--for me the word "hero" loses any distinct meaning if you become one by turning off your TV--these WWF ads illustrate what has many rights owners concerned: the establishment of charity as a law-free zone.

YOUR LYON EYES EXTRA:

A commenter notes a similar eco-campaign in France that produced an unauthorized DC-Marvel crossover:

Funny we had the same idea here but adapted to a campaign whose goal was to tell people to be "cleaner" citizen in the streets of our city (Lyon, France). We actually also used Superman too but my favorite one was a visual with the picture of hand wide open with the title "The Fantastic Five". The Fantastic Five were actually the five fingers every super citizen has and can use to throw their waste in the trash and not to leave them on the streets...

While this comment is funny 'cuz it's true:

At last, a social and environmental campaign that does not include:

1. Malformed, burned, skeleton children
2. Images which, seen from a distance, remind you of something else
3. Bush