Portlandia: We Satirize Portland, But If You Satirize Us, We'll Go Legal On You [Updated]
from the put-a-bird-on-it,-dammit dept
Make sure you see the update at the end...A few months back, a friend of mine pointed me to some YouTube clips of the TV show Portlandia, the Fred Armisen/Carrie Brownstein show satirizing the city of Portland. The show is mildly amusing. However, it appears that someone involved in the show doesn't like it when anyone satirizes them. Ryan points us to the news that blogger/writer Jenny Lawson, a fan of the show, decided to use the create-your-own-products store Zazzle to make a parody of a Portlandia skit known as Put A Bird On It!.
That's not where the story ends.
In response, Lawson decided to then mock the takedown itself, with this lovely design:
It also turns out that Lawson is not one to give up easily, especially when being bullied in a ridiculous manner. She's now created three new designs -- one, two and three, testing just how far Portlandia lawyers want to go in this little dance. Designs below:
Update: Looks like the Portlandia crew themselves didn't know this was happening. There's now an update on the post:
Holy crap, y’all. I just got an email from Fred Armisen (co-creater and co-star of Portlandia), telling me that he and Carrie have no clue why those bags were banned, and that they think they’re fabulous. Then he asked how they could help, and he and Carrie offered to sign some of the bags personally. Which explains exactly why I love Portlandia, social media, and birds. I considered making one saying “Carrie and Fred personally approve of the birds on this bag” (and then have them sign it, along with a notary public), but instead I just suggested that they sign one and auction it off to a charity that rescues birds from crack houses. And we’d call it The GET-A-BIRD-OUT-OF-THERE Auction. No word yet from Fred. It’s possible I may have frightened him.Cool response to a bad situation that never should have happened in the first place...
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Filed Under: parody, portlandia, put a bird on it, satire, takedowns
Reader Comments
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confused...
And the bird IS the word ...
do they own all the words?
I am pretty sure I just committed 41 counts of copyright, with all these word I just used. 43 if you count the numbers.
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Re: confused...
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Re: confused...
Great music but we thieves can't hear it without breaking the law.
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Re: Re: confused...
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Re: Re: confused...
Could it be this word ;)
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http://www.zazzle.com/this_bag_is_based_on_the_true_story_of_my_life-149176623338046415
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Dear Portlandia,
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Re: Dear Portlandia,
http://thebloggess.com/2011/09/dear-portlandia-really/#comment-115802
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Obligitory...
What did Portlandia just do to their public relations?
Why, they "Put a turd on it!".
.
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Re:
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Are the takedown requests posted anywhere?
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UPDATED: Holy crap, y’all. I just got an email from Fred Armisen (co-creater and co-star of Portlandia), telling me that he and Carrie have no clue why those bags were banned, and that they think they’re fabulous. Then he asked how they could help, and he and Carrie offered to sign some of bags personally. Which explains exactly why I love Portlandia, social media, and birds. I considered making one saying “Carrie and Fred personally approve of the birds on this bag” (and then have them sign it along with a notary public), but instead I just suggested that they sign one and auction it off to a charity that rescues birds from crack houses. And we’d call it The GET-A-BIRD-OUT-OF-THERE Auction. No word yet from Fred. It’s possible I may have frightened him.
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Ignorant as usual.
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Re: Ignorant as usual.
People may have problems with lots of things that are perfectly legal.
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Re: Ignorant as usual.
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Re: Ignorant as usual.
Satire is satire, whether the target is a government, an individual, or a business.
Only someone ignorant of the law would think the target defines its own ability to be satirized.
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Re: Ignorant as usual.
But seriously you're right. This blogger took away the shows highly lucrative Zazzle market, that must be stopped. She even had the audacity to credit them, tell her many many followers how great the show is and have a sense of humor. What a bitch.
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Re: Ignorant as usual.
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Re: Ignorant as usual.
[Citation Needed]
As always, you won't provide one, of course.
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Re: Ignorant as usual.
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Re: Ignorant as usual.
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Re: Ignorant as usual.
"Drop a mountain on it" - Larry Niven
"Put up or shut up" - common usage
"Put it in the pocket" - common usage
"Put your hands where I can see 'em!" - common usage
"Put a lid on it" - common usage - common usage
"Put a cork in it" - common usage
"Put it out to pasture" - common usage
"Put it where the moon don't shine" - common usage
btw, your continued arrogance appears to have been blatantly ripped off by about... 100,000,000 people throughout the history of man. Better get your lawdogs on that....
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Re: Ignorant as usual.
Try again, and use an example of a creative work that is inspired by a cultural event or artifact, explained in the context of the specific type of law, i.e., trademark, copyright, patent, or trade secret, and how it is violated.
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YouTube is censoring comments ...
Or maybe I'm just crazy and paranoid.
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Meme
As mentioned above, Carrie and Fred are well aware of this and they are putting a stop to this.
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NEWS FLASH: This just in ...
"UPDATED: Holy crap, y’all. I just got an email from Fred Armisen (co-creater and co-star of Portlandia), telling me that he and Carrie have no clue why those bags were banned, and that they think they’re fabulous."
http://thebloggess.com/2011/09/dear-portlandia-really/
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Re: NEWS FLASH: This just in ...
The bird is the word now.
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Send the lawyer's paperwork back
"Like the response? I put my butt on it before I sent it."
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Wow.
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Note: I'm not defending the showrunners' choice to take legal action here, I'm just wondering if anyone knows: Is homage considered as "fair" as parody and satire, or does there have to be some criticism of the target to make it more "fair"?
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ba boom
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Re:
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Just a follow-up
Just wanted to mention that I've heard from Fred several times to follow up about it personally. Fred and Carrie are fans of the bags, of small businesses and of independent writers, and they're following up to make sure that legal isn't so heavy-handed in the future, while still protecting their rights. Perfect solution, handled in an amazing way, which ended with more people than ever being exposed to their show. Social media for the win.
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Design of Business Products
Her business of selling products based on a catchphrase from a satirical show, seems perfectly fine. There are business websites that sell T-Shirts, with satirical commentary on them that have never been attacked by lawyers. Her business shouldn't have been any different.
Shame on Zazzle for pulling her products, & affecting her business, so quickly without proper investigation.
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