Star Wars Gives Crafters a Free Copyright Pass?

I am going to have to accept that it is simply not possible for an average guy like myself to understand what is kosher and what is treif when it comes to copyright and fair use.

I just wrote about Pez going after a guy with a Pez “museum” for, I guess, making money off of the Pez brand and not sharing that money with Pez.  Although, seriously, how much money could this guy be making?

Now, just a few minutes later I come across an announcement for a Star Wars themed craft fair called Stitch Wars.  Cute, right.  Well, not only are hundreds of crafters showing up with their own, handmade Star Wars puppets, plushies and pillows, but many of these people are selling those items.  Obviously, they are only able to sell these items thanks to their Star Wars connection but it doesn’t look like LucasArts et. al. have let loose the lawyers on this band of pirate knitters, crocheters and stitchers.

On the one hand, this feels so reasonable and right and on the other hand, considering the way corporations sling around copyright infringement suits like their a dime-a-dozen, a part of me is shocked that Stitch Wars is allowed to exist.

That makes me sad.

Pez Candy Company Threatens a Super-Fan in Classic Copyright FAIL

The deeper one digs into copyright laws and how they are wielded the more confused I become.

First, I hear a story on NPR about a guy who runs a tiny Pez “museum” where lovers of the iconic candy dispenser often travel from miles away just to share in their obsession.  Sounds harmless, right?  In fact, I’d go further and say, we’re I the head of Pez, “Wow! That’s fantastic.  This guys is providing us with a wealth of free publicity and keeping our product firmly in the minds of our customers and we don’t have  to do anything but reap the rewards!”

Instead, the Pez people have done nothing but harass this guy…

Doss says this is not the first time he and Pez have crossed dispensers. When he first opened the place, Pez made him change the name from the “Pez Museum” to the mouthful it now is — “the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia.” Doss calls it harassment.

“It’s as if we’re making something here and putting their name on it. That’s not what we’re doing,” he says.

But Pez Candy Inc. says that’s exactly what the museum is doing. If it was just selling all things Pez, that’d be fine, they say. But, they add, you can’t sell things that aren’t official merchandise, like Pez T-shirts the museum printed up. And you can’t use that 7-foot-tall Pez dispenser the museum made, that stands just inside the front door.

Alan Behr is the lawyer for Pez in Connecticut. He says it’s not really a giant Pez dispenser because Pez doesn’t make a giant dispenser.

“It’s only Pez if we say it’s Pez. The same way you will not see a Mickey Mouse in the United States made by anybody but Disney,” he explains. “It’s only Mickey Mouse if Disney says it’s Mickey Mouse. Otherwise, it’s an infringement. You have to control what is core to your brand.”      LINK

Yes, the boldface is my own addition.  I didn’t want you to miss that last point.  According to the Pez Candy Company it is more important to control your brand (whatever the hell that means) than it is to support super-fans who have the potential to create sales both directly and indirectly.  Rather than give this guy a big pat on the back, they are turning him against them! Where is the profit in this? Where is the logic?!

It’s enough to drive a guy insane, I tell ya…

Also, will Pez Candy come after me for using an image of their dispenser with express written consent?  Stay tuned.