The Ethereal War Part IV The Internet bothers me.
Once you peel away one hideous layer you find another just as ugly and totally devoid of any respect involving copyright ownership. It’s so widespread that I doubt even an entity such as Disney can control the illegal use of its property. In some cases it may seem like harmless fun but to a corporation or individual trying to create a viable product it’s disruptive and damaging.
Search engines like Yahoo and a host of others allow users to create groups and swap audio and visual material freely. It’s great if the material is totally original but unfortunately that’s not the case. The providers hide behind complex text stating that they are not responsible for the content posted by its members. Exactly how did these providers arrive at the conclusion that they are not responsible?
That’s a question for a Lawyer. And I’ve talked to one and he insists that I should, “Rally the troops!” the problem is the comic book industry has turned a blind eye to all of the scanning and posting of their material and that makes the fight that much harder. I am winning my war to have my work removed from various sites and newsgroups and that should be enough. But it isn’t. I say this because the scanners and posters realize that as a whole they are free to do as they please with little cause or fear of reprisals.
That may soon change. Here are two examples.
Kerry Gonzalez, an insurance underwriter from New Jersey, learned the hard way that you can’t post Universal Pictures property and get away with it. Gonzalez received a promotional video of “The Hulk” from a friend in an advertising agency. He then digitized it and posted it in an Internet chat room. Two weeks before the film’s release! In a short time the FBI became involved and Gonzalez pleaded guilty to one count of copyright infringement. He’s been sentenced (as of September 2003) to six months home confinement and three years probation. He has also been fined $2,000 and been ordered to pay $5,000 to Universal Pictures. The home confinement thing is peculiar…hopefully the Judge took his computer away as well!
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) began filing lawsuits against home computer users who post & download MP3 music, through peer-to-peer software, in June of 2003 Brianna Lahara, a 12 year old girl became one of the first sued. She settled by paying a $2000.00 fine for downloading music.
As you can see once an industry unites against a problem which effects their bottom line then swift action can be expected. And it will happen in the comics industry. Why, because we’re talking about a valuable commodity which generates millions of dollars in all forms of media. When you think about it, comic characters are pretty unique in the fact that they can transcend most media barriers that other characters or personalities cannot. As proven throughout time, comic book characters can be anything from Saturday morning cartoons to movie and television stars. Some even have an album or two to their credit. Consumers (or fans if you’d like) don’t get to make decisions on how these characters are presented to the public. Just try posting the latest Harry Potter book on a web site or newsgroup and see what happens.
And what of the individuals who incurred my wrath to begin with and those who allow the use of their Internet presence to post works under copyright? Here is a short list of major offenders:
*Whyld Goose has returned to posting in the Newsgroup, alt-binaries-pictures-erotica-cartoons (ABPEC). He vanished for a while when I turned up the heat. His return is indeed a sad thing. It just goes to show the callous attitude of posters. *As of this writing Whyld Goose seems to have retired permanently. I am aware of 2 of his aliases and continue my observation of him. I know his real name and I know where he lives.
*Ed Macman and his new Yahoo group, comixbookmuseum, still continues to post comics amongst it members. Yahoo doesn’t seem to have a problem with it. Curious. Ed is also a contributor to the ABPEC. *As of this writing Ed Macman still posts collections of erotic comic art, UNRESTICTED! Here is a direct line from his opening web page that pretty well sums up his arrogance towards comic creators, “The Comix Book Museum is the largest collection of Adult Graphic Novels available for free on the Internet. The largest. Worldwide. Period.” Why does Yahoo condone his actions?
Donnie B. & Robinek of the same newsgroup also posts many creators works. Do they have their permission to do so? Check out www.abpec.com for further information.
These are just a handful of the characters that are stealing the hard work and livelihood of many creators. They’ll tell you that they are doing it to honor and show others the great work they admirer. What they are really doing is providing the countless comics related websites with content to use and charge a monthly fee for!
There are other concerns to consider. Just recently I saw a posting of Madonna’s book SEX on eBay. Well not the book exactly…an E-BOOK! For those of you not familiar with the term an e-book are scans of printed material and burned to a CD. Now the last I heard Madonna pulled the SEX book from publication. The point is clearly illustrated. The possibility for the distribution of electronic information is endless.
Usenetix (www.usenetix.com) & Guba - Gigantic Usenet Binaries Archive (http://www.guba.com/) really anger me with their thumbnails of comic covers and pages from the major companies. They too claim they are not responsible for the content posted by its members. I’d have to think that as an employee of Usenetix or Guba after seeing a posted comic book by DC, Marvel, etc. they would know that the work doesn’t fall under the category of public domain. Usenetix & Guba are by no means the only providers allowing this practice.
www.hentalianime.com and www.hentaitoonami.com posted my work and the work of several others not too long ago. I informed them of my copyright and the work was removed. I then contacted a publisher who has a vested interest in my fight for control of my work. When I informed him that the work he published was also on one monthly pay-site he too issued a letter to have the work removed. Slowly publishers are beginning to understand what must be done.
I have talked with many people, fans and pros alike and still, it comes down to the individual owner of copyright to say what can and cannot be done with his or her property. Publishers of creator owned work should also voice their opinion if for nothing else than the respect for the work they once issued. With all the problems in the comics industry I still find it hard to believe that we are at a point where the industry is clearly at war with the very people who buy their product!
Is there a way out of this mess? The solution is simple. End all postings of copyright owned material and hold the people responsible accountable. The providers of Internet space must screen all material and delete material that is clearly not owned by the posters. If not, then PROVIDERS must be held responsible!
“Hold the providers responsible? He can’t mean that?”, you say. Hypothetically speaking, a distributor of comics sells his copies of Super-Hero X to a retail shop. Now comes along a Consumer and he/she sells their Facsimile copies of Super-Hero X to the retail shop at a fraction of what the distributor does. Sure, the Consumer selling the material is clearly wrong, but so is the retail shop for buying the material. By holding the retail shop responsible, in this example, they are forced to review their actions and make the proper decision. Let me point out that disclaimers and ownership are clearly printed on all mass-market consumer goods. The scanners and poster know this. THEY SCAN AND POST THEM AS WELL!
Some may think that that’s too simple a solution and that comics (super-hero or mature) are not deserving of such stringent restrictions. My response is where would the entertainment industry be without comics? Isn’t the source worth protecting? Even from the very people who claim to be fans of the art form?
Sooner or later I hope that my collegues will understand that they too have the same rights that motion picture and recording artists have when it comes to the use of their works. Their very livelihood, as well as the business of comics, is at stake.
Steven Bové • NY 2004
