Pick on someone your own size, buster!

Are these American right owners wise to have turned against these small victims?



The cat suit: Warner Music Group has been refusing to humour cat lovers. Keyboard Cat (above) is one of the big sensations of 2009 on YouTube. However, when the video was mashed up with the video of Hall & Oates’s ‘You Make My Dreams’ Warner had the sound removed. YouTube users’ claws are out. (Wired; LA Times)

The Joker: DC Comics is suing John Stacks, maker of Batman figurines. The Bradenton Herald reports: ‘Stacks said his figures portray the “actors” from the 1960s “Batman” TV series, who happened to be dressed as characters from the show that made them famous – Adam West as Batman, Burt Ward as Robin, Frank Gorshin as the Riddler and five others…. He has contracts from the actors and their families on using their likenesses.’ Stacks is being sued for up to $7.5 million – he says he’s worth $70.

Stamped out: a sculptor, Frank Gaylord, is suing the US postal service for using a photo of his sculpture of soldiers on patrol in the Korean War on a stamp. The Centre for Internet and Society has filed an amicus brief. They say: ‘One of the important questions this case presents is whether and to what extent an artist has the right to use existing imagery to create new artistic expression. We think fair use does and should protect this right, which is crucial to huge amounts of expression, including vast amounts of modern art.’