OT: Warner Brothers And Intellectual Property

I came across this post where somebody wanting to do good apparently did it the wrong way. They wanted to raise some money for a children’s cancer charity — Candlelighters — but were doing so in the form of an auction that featured artists’ reproductions of DC Comics characters.

Apparently Warner Brothers is the owner of the intellectual property rights for those characters (I didn’t bother to check this out) and stepped in to have the auction shut down, leaving the auction organizer in a bit of a bind and the cancer charity with a bit less cash than they might have had.

I can’t blame Warner Brothers. If they own the intellectual property rights, they have the right and obligation to protect their rights. And a lot of people are thinking, “Gee, Warner Brothers, what a heavy-handed thing to do!”

Let’s take a step back and look at this for a moment.

Let’s suppose that the auction organizer had taken YOUR trademarked and copyrighted items, reproduced them, and was selling them without asking first (that last point is important; it appears as if this step never took place). As a fellow business owner and holder of intellectual property rights, you’d probably do the same thing, i.e. move to have the auction shut down. And to be honest, I’d probably take similar action.

Hey, charity is a good thing (I sponsor two children via Children International — PLEASE consider sponsoring a child!), and being generous and helpful is a part of our mission while we are here on this planet. That’s why I included a link to the Candlelighter’s site; you can make a donation, if you wish (NOTE: I have not evaluated the charity but posted the link anyway because they are approved to receive donations via the Combined Federal Campaign, which at least means that they are an official charity, and from Thomas’ post, they actually do help people). Heck, you can even go to Amazon via the link on the Candlelighters’ home page and buy some stuff there — they’ll get a small commission when you purchase (another win-win, eh?). That’s a great thing, and I hope that you’ll at least take a look at their web page.

On the other hand, Warner Brothers acted properly, even though it appears to be heavy-handed.

What would I do if my stuff were being sold from a charity auction? Pretty much the same thing… If I didn’t want my name and company associated with the auction and/or the charity, I’d have it shut down in a heartbeat. If I liked the cause, I’d still consider my actions carefully, simply because I depend on business revenue to earn a living, and if I allow one person to use my property for a charity auction without prior coordination and permission, then I’ve set a new standard that could quite possibly lead to LOTS of charities doing it, thereby diluting my brand — and my ability to pay my bills.

Having said that, if somebody came to me BEFORE the fact and told me what they wanted to do — which is the way it should be done — I’d at least listen to them (at least right now). I could gain some great publicity from it, perhaps some new customers, along with the knowledge that I made a tiny bit of difference in somebody’s life.

So Thomas, your heart is in the right place (and this post is made with a prayer for Ben), and I sincerely hope that you find some way to help Candlelighters. And I’ll be watching your blog!

–Tom

P.S. — VitalSecurity, while I normally agree with you, I can’t this time. (it was my daily check of your blog that tipped me off to this). While Warner Brothers does seem to be coming across heavy handed here and could have handled it in some other manner, remember that as computer security professionals, we are obligated to uphold intellectual property rights. Otherwise I love your blog and what you’re doing; thanks, and keep up the good work.