This Is Not Cool News Posted by Seb Patrick on 7th February 2007, 14:31 We all want Dwarf t-shirts. I’m still desperate for a London Jets one, and one day, I may go down to a t-shirt shop and make one for myself. I don’t see anything wrong with that, because it’s not making me any money, and I know that I’d buy an official one if such a thing existed. But making money from Cafe Press by selling unofficial merch? Fuck off. Hell, if they were making the shirts themselves, they’d still be exploiting someone else’s creativity, but at least they’d be putting some effort in. But this is making money off Dwarf‘s popularity by putting no effort in whatsoever. Just… no. And if you’re going to do it, at least (a) get the font vaguely correct, and (b) learn how to spell “chameleonic”.
Having said that… it’s sometimes difficult to know where to draw the line. I think the T-shirts is blatantly crossing it. On the other hand, GNP could probably get G&T shut down, but don’t, because in general it’s beneficial for any franchise to have active fansites. Fan edits of episodes are tricky, though. Would they hurt Dwarf DVD sales? I’d say not. Is it profiting out of someone else’s hard work? No. But I still wouldn’t dare stick them on here!
>And if you?re going to do it, at least (a) get the font vaguely correct, and (b) learn how to spell ?chameleonic?. “MUTANTS OUT CHAMELONIC LIFE FORMS NO THANKS” I know my typing skills aren’t perfect but FFS! PUNCTUATION!!!!! stupid fuckwits!
I’ve just looked through all the merch on there. Why are there badges saying ‘Bad Wolf’? Do these people not know the difference between Dr Who and Red Dwarf…I mean sure, they both include the TARDIS… Also, what the hell has this got to do with Red Dwarf.
>?T-shirt inspired by Polymorph episode of Red Dwarf with two popular Red Dwarf phrases.? The “artist” isn’t claiming that one is meant to be a replica, at least. The ones in the Red Dwarf section that actually steal Red Dwarf artwork or images, more than just have quotes, are what really affront my sense of fairness.
> people profiting from no creativity or effort of their own Jade springs to mind. Oh, and just about any pop band since 1991.
>The ?artist? isn?t claiming that one is meant to be a replica, at least. The ones in the Red Dwarf section that actually steal Red Dwarf artwork or images, more than just have quotes, are what really affront my sense of fairness. Yeah, to be perfectly honest I’m not against the idea of slapping a line from the show onto a t-shirt. Not least because there’s plenty of stuff I’d like to have on a t-shirt that just isn’t made. It’s alright, at least from my moral stance. Using an image, though, IS blatant infringement, and that’s well over the line. Basically I look at it like this: somebody selling a shirt that says “All you need is love,” I feel, isn’t doing anything wrong. It’s just a line from a song and, assuming that shirt isn’t also available officially, it’s not hurting anyone. Somebody that’s selling a shirt that says “The Beatles” on it over a photograph or album cover of the band is definitely infringement, because you’re taking away directly from the sales of licensed Beatles merchendise.
Again, though, I’m talking less about people making shirts and flogging them themselves. It’s a dubious moral line, but as you say, when it’s just a single line or phrase, it’s hard to object quite as much. But Cafe Press is a site designed to help people sell their own merchandise for their bands or other such enterprises. Cafe Press get the bulk of the money from the sale, as they should, since they’re the ones who actually make the shirts and have the overheads. But the people who “commission” the shirts also get money from it. So the people doing these shirts are thus making money by getting Cafe Press to make shirts for them. They have no input, neither creative nor material, yet they’re still making money. That’s what pisses me off so much. The majority of people who use Cafe Press deserve to get a cut of the sale because they’ve put some creative input in. These people haven’t – they’ve just gone “Oh, that slogan would make a good shirt” and got someone else to do all the work for them.
Ahem. Couldn’t we “design” one, with the correct font. List it on Cafepress and donate the funds to GNP ;-)
I agree with Seb on this one, it has bugged me many times seeing cheap rip off merchandise! The money should go to the licence holder not some cash grabbing fast buck merchant! I have posted many links to fake items posted on eBay and had many removed to stop the con. But here is the flip side, you want Red Dwarf to be popular, you want it in the open market. Are items of this type flattery to the name? Do you want things like this to be made to keep Red Dwarf alive? Is it easier to let this slip without question, because the legal wrangle would’t be cost affective?
Exactly where as producing better quality version of the same thing on the same site for zero profit would be far more effective ;-)
I’m not sure how the law stands on this, but I guess we all have our moral standpoints…. Personally, I think Cafe Press or whoever has stepped over the line by merely using the Red Dwarf name to sell non-genuine produce. They are making a profit out of someone elses name, to say nothing of stealing text or images.. And it seems Red Dwarf is just one name out of many. I have no problem with someone producing their own stuff, for their own use or indeed a group of friends providing they are not making a profit or passing it off as original merchandise. I’d have no qualms with say G&T producing a T’shirt, even if they used a logo, it is after all a show of support. Having said that, no doubt someone would argue that by making a number of shirts, you are possibly depriving the Fan Club or GNP of a possible sale of the/a genuine article.. I guess the ins and outs are many fold… P.S, does anyone want to buy one of my hand knitted ‘Rod Dwirf’ bobble hats?
Yeah. I don’t actually disagree with you, Seb, it’s just a difficult call for something like a line from a show. Copyrighted images, yeah, it’s clearly immoral (and illegal), but just a line from a show, or a song, or a film? Those aren’t copyrighted. So is it really wrong to slap them on a shirt and profit? It’s a good question. I’d say yes, it definitely is wrong if the shirt exists in some official form somewhere. But if it doesn’t…well…why not? In the specific instance of the guy you linked to above, I agree entirely about his not having done any real work and so his gains are pretty much ill-gotten however you look at it. But the general idea isn’t one of pure evil. It’s just making things available that aren’t available officially. And, as I say, it’s just a line from a show, making no claim of official status or anything…
Guys–in unrelated news, I have a message that the software here says is “queued for moderation”. Can you all look at that? EDIT (John Hoare): Done. UltraMegaEdit (Arlene): Thanks!
Okay, the “queuing for moderation” thingy happened again–and I was just editing my old post to say thanks. Figures XP .
http://www.spreadshirt.net/shop.php?sid=258751 *cough* (For those with BTLi Access bit of a split decision over this going on, see GELF Space)
You can’t actually tell the quality of those T-shirts through the website images. For all we know, they could be awful quality. Although the actual designs are *lovely*. But yeah, I don’t think it’s really on. It the idea of people making money out of it that really bothers me, when they could have got a license from GNP and done it properly.
You’re absolutely right, John. The images look lovely, but it’s not hard to look lovely at 150 x 100 pixels (or whatever). In reality, when it’s blown up full size, it could well look like absolute garbage. That said, I really do want a high enough quality Muggs Murphy shirt, now that the website has tricked me into believing they exist.
