Publicity Rights For A Photobombing Horse? Owner Demands Cut Of Photo Prize
from the ownership-society dept
We've written many, many words on the ridiculousness of publicity rights, and how they're frequently abused to stifle perfectly reasonable activities. But this latest example really takes it up a notch. The owner of a horse in the UK is apparently demanding some of the prize a man won in a "selfie" contest, because the horse made a key "photobombing" appearance in the background, that likely contributed to the victory:There's plenty to comment on here. First, as you can see, the reward was a holiday trip, and not cash, though apparently there was some confusion over that. So it's not like it's easy to "split." Apparently Mitchell first demanded "half" of the prize. Second, (and importantly) you don't need permission to photograph someone's horse, especially when done from a public path. So the whole "without our permission" thing is complete nonsense. A token gesture might be a nice thing to do, but it's not clear the best way to seek a "token gesture" is to angrily demand half of the prize. Perhaps a friendlier "Hey, that's my horse, and that's awesome!" would have been a better approach that would have made everyone happy, leading the Bellises to think about maybe giving something nice in return. Like, a treat for the horse or something.Mitchell said: “I was really annoyed to hear he had won a £2,000 holiday and had used a picture of our horse without our permission. He should have asked for our consent. There should be some token gesture as it is our horse that has really won them the holiday,” she said.
Mitchell added: “I didn’t even know that this competition was on. If I had known about it we would have entered and could have won as Betty is always sticking out her tongue.”
Finally, the whole "If I had known about it we would have entered and could have won" bullshit, the response is but you didn't. So stop whining. Perhaps next time such a contest is run you'll be paying attention and you can answer. The whole response smacks of serious sour grapes.
Thankfully, the Guardian quotes a lawyer who agrees that Mitchell has no legal basis to complain. Of course, not too long ago, we thought the same thing about a monkey in a selfie, and then... PETA stepped in. So far its attempt to extend copyright law to monkeys has flopped, but perhaps its next attempt will be extending publicity rights to horses. I imagine that will fare similarly poorly.
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Filed Under: horse, jealousy, photobomb, publicity rights, selfie
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If they owe anyone...
Maybe they'll at least send Mr. Mitchell some pictures of their vacation, as that would be proportionate to his contribution.
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Re: If they owe anyone...
"Nicola Mitchell"
If it had been my horse I think I would have asked for a print, stuck it on the fridge, and smiled every time I looked at it and thought about how that little boy has a great photo to show his grandkids one day.
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Re: Re: If they owe anyone...
My apologies to Ms. Mitchell and the horse she rode in on.
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"Nicola Mitchell"
Like Nikola Tesla but with a c? As it happens though Nicola is a woman.
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Is there a betting pool
Is there a betting pool on how long it'll be before PETA gets involved? Put me down for two weeks.
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Re: Is there a betting pool
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How clueless.
I mean, the horse is not even sticking out its tongue on the picture. It's taking in the smell of the humans (granted, horses' way of doing that does look a bit silly to humans). It's getting an impression rather than expressing anything.
Mitchell seems to have as much clue about horses as she has about photography rights.
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Peta launches new copyright lawsuit in the UK.
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Re: Peta launches new copyright lawsuit in the UK.
Ponies all the way down.
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Re: Re: Re: Peta launches new copyright lawsuit in the UK.
Has anyone notified Ken White?
I think he might need to light some signal to let everyone know the ponies are coming.
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Ownership Culture
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Re: Ownership Culture
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What!?
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Re: What!?
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Maybe the could have won...
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Re: Maybe the could have won...
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Re: Maybe the could have won...
I think that horse's ass is causing Betty a loss of reputation. PETA should sue her; the horse's ass, I mean.
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Possible typo
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Publicity rights used to stifle legitimate activities?
And trademark is used to stifle the ordinary use of ordinary english words? (usages which are not commercially competing or causing market confusion)
And patents are used to stifle independent innovators who do the actual work to build something that someone else vaguely and poorly described on paper and then did nothing further.
I guess I left out trade secrets from the IP food groups. But I don't remember any trade secrets being used to stifle anything.
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Re: Publicity rights used to stifle legitimate activities?
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Re: Re: Publicity rights used to stifle legitimate activities?
But there may have been T-shirts, too. Or not. My memory these days… oh, geezers. I'm not old.
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Re: Publicity rights used to stifle legitimate activities?
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How stupid can you be? Go on, monetize the fk out of it.
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Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth
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Re: Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth
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Not again
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If Techdirt had audio...
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He'll find a lawyer to make a name for himself
Unthankfully, there's always a lawyer who will take a case like this to make a name for himself. Sure, they can't win, but look at all the people that will talk about him.
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Nicola Mitchell
shame on you picking on a 3 year old
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Token Gesture
Not sure if the token gesture, or even the gesture of "the bird" is what they wanted though. But hey it's what they deserve
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But WE own the park
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What goes around comes around
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Get stuffed, Nicola.
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