http://www.cad-forums.com/showthread.php?t=43010
The webcomic strip Ctrl-Alt-Del by Tim Buckley has ascended the bloated ranks of gaming comics like a bigger, stronger rat stepping on the heads of its sewage-drowned brothers. Amid the gags about oversized X-Box controllers and the recent melodramatic “house burned down” storyline — which Buckley delivers to us while clutching a hamhock in each fist — there are a lot of elements that gamers would enjoy. So it’s no wonder CAD is in the upper echelons, my personal boredom and distaste for the strip not withstanding.
But in the CAD forums we get to see a glimpse of the cartoonist himself, and on one particular occasion I wasn’t disappointed. Here’s what went down — a high school student by the handle of “Falos” is an avid fan of CAD, and decides to act out several CAD strips for a class film project. He presents the work to the Ctrl-Alt-Del forums, beaming with pride at the tribute he’s given his favorite strip.
Buckley, naturally, tears the kid a new one and talks to his lawyer. But while others prefer to side with the “little guy” in this scenario, let’s look at the facts for a change.
Fact: Buckley is a cartoonist with intellectual properties trying to make a buck.
Fact: Some high school student forgot to read up on a little thing called United States Copyright Law and decided to show his love for the strip. Okay, so it’s a fan-created tribute. It’s also called breaking the law, and violating intellectual property.
Fact: That kid deserves a serious beatdown.
Look, you can argue it all you want, but the fact is, Buckley’s in the right. So what if he’s a dick for shouting at a fan, calling him a fuck-up and his video “a piece of shit?” That’s the law. And the law is here to protect original creators like Buckley, Sean “Squidi” Howard and Tauhid Bondia from having their unique voices controlled, altered or deleted in any way. Just because you’re a jerk doesn’t mean you don’t have rights. Why is that so hard for people to remember?
As for me, I wish I could have posted this sooner, but my machine locked up, and I held off on rebooting it for fear of hearing from Tim’s lawyers.
September 8th, 2005 at 5:30 pm
I would just like to say that actually copyright law would be on the side of the student in this case as he made the production for class. It could be argued that he violated copyright law for educational purposes, which is considered fair use.
September 8th, 2005 at 7:07 pm
Based on a quick review of “Internet Commerce: The Emerging Legal Framework”, I think Tim has no case. Specifically, I think that Falos has a pretty strong claim for the affirmative defense of fair use, based on the fact that his video was made for non-commercial use, only uses a portion of the copyrighted material, and does not impair the commercial value of the copyrighted material in any potential market. If I were Tim’s lawyer (and I hasten to add that I’m not a lawyer at all, though I do have a law degree), I would write Falos a letter requesting that he remove the video from the internet and agree to never distribute it in any forum. If he didn’t comply, I would repeat the letter but in a more (legally) threatening manner. If he still didn’t comply, I would watch him like a hawk to make sure he didn’t try to put it to commercial use, but take no further action. Filing a doomed lawsuit helps no one, and the kid’s video doesn’t seem to do any real economic harm to Tim, or to the value of Tim’s intellectual property.
September 8th, 2005 at 9:22 pm
Buckley’s response to the fan was indeed harsh — especially for somebody who liberally peppers that backdrops of his strips with copyrighted materials himself. Movie posters, such as “Star Wars” and “Batman Begins,” are very copyrighted materials — and unlike the student who made a project for class (a non-profit forum, to be sure), Buckley’s enterprise is purely commercial. While it is indeed possible that Buckley received permission from all of the copyright holders of those posters and signs, and if so, then my point is moot. But if not, then the hypocritical high horse that Buckley has climbed on deserves to be cut off at the knees.
September 8th, 2005 at 9:43 pm
The fact that Tim Buckley would attack a high school student who made a short video for his class (non profit and non commercial), out of respect and enthusiasm for Buckley’s work, irks me. It’s one of the attitudes I’ve seen from Buckley pop up now and then - he gets anal at people who mean well. It’s pretty disappointing, really.
September 9th, 2005 at 2:36 am
You guys misunderstand a little, perhaps. I’m with you there, but he had a right to do it. I’d even go so far as to say Buckley HAD to defend his creative endeavor from the wretched fan, who probably cried upon seeing the reaction to his video.
Yeah, it’s tragic, but that’s what you get, I guess. I’m having a hard time finding a lesson from all this, come to think of it. It’s depressing, is what it is.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:51 am
“…while others prefer to side with the “little guy” in this scenario…”
Did you read the thread at all? I’ve certainly drilled through maybe 500 replies so far. And the given link has the worst of it, Tim’s crew is who did the tearing. Further discussion was at the second topic, also closed now…
http://www.cad-forums.com/showthread.php?t=43195
Then it leaked into the PVP forum, where bias was less present, and people did start to look critically at Tim’s attitude…
http://www.imagecomics.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=7335
In fact, some were rather grumpy…
http://www.imagecomics.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=7361
Overall people in general, not the CAD community, are not happy with the way Tim handled the issue.
Leaving behind attitude and bringing in legality, there is variation. Some say I couldn’t create the movie at all. Some say it’s not allowed on the web. Most say I should’ve asked first, at least ethically.
Whether or not I’m legally safe is still not decided. The internet is vague, and copyrights are messy, especially considering the following:
* The movie is non-profit
* The movie had educational purpose
* The movie is extremely clear in crediting CAD and Tim
* The movie does not ’slander’, ‘mutilate’ or in any way harm Tim’s intellectual property
* The movie may or may not be considered ‘parody’
* The movie may or may not be considered ‘fanart’ which Tim allowed.
If anything, I would increase Tim’s fanbase. The only argument that the movie was bad that was ever mentioned was… that the movie was bad. That is, poor quality, and not worthy to be in the same sentence as CAD.
I offered the movie to Tim and the CAD community, and it was not accepted. As a result, I removed the movie, and there was no need for Tim to threaten me. Admittedly, GVideo delays removal of ‘Live’ (free) videos, and I believe it still stands. I intend to contact Google if this continues.
Also, my ego is often brought into question. My statement is that “It would’ve been best had I posted the movie as if it wasn’t my own” so that I’m not credited yet the movie is released more freely.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:54 am
I’m going to agree with Drew on this one. I’m still in law school, so I don’t want to hold myself out as either a lawyer or an expert in copyright law, but nothing about what the student did strikes me as outside of fair use. Maybe, and I mean maybe, putting it online was a mistake, but I doubt it’d be actionable unless the kid really fought back when asked to take it down. Just because you create art doesn’t mean you get to control everything about it once it’s out there. In fact, quite the opposite, if you’re putting stuff in the public space you have to give up a certain amount of control.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:54 am
I think this is one of those cases when it’s best to handle it privately one-on-one.
Going open season publicly is only going to divide the fanbase where every single comment from both sides are going to be endlessly debated. Buckley is going to look bad eventhough he had every right to do what he did.
He should have talked to the offending fan privately, solve the problem then posting a “problem solved” reply on the forum rather than publicly browbeating a fan who is only in HS and obviously not well versed in the nuances of copyright laws.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:55 am
I’d also like to add that, whatever the law might be, Tim’s being a *huge* dick about this. Sure, you’ve got to make sure you retain reasonable control over your art, but punishing fans like this is way over the top.
September 9th, 2005 at 1:12 pm
Um… Didn’t Buckley almost verbatim copy Penny Arcade? I mean this kid was a big enough fan to act out some of his scenes and proudly show them off and he gets threatened with legal action? I mean is this kid going to start making a buck from it? Some people shouldn’t be allowed legal counsel..
September 9th, 2005 at 2:18 pm
As a side note, everyone is talking about some “kid” doing this. Ironically, reading through the responses in the original CAD thread, Falos is the only one who comes across as an adult with hs replies.
If you’re reading this Falos, much respect for not biting the flame bait and, well, not acting like a cad.
September 10th, 2005 at 11:03 am
Here’s a link to the latest CAD:
http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/index.php?t=archives&date=last
Look at the television screen in the panels — it is a direct grab of the title screen of “Super Mario Bros.” That is a direct use of copyrighted material in a commercial atmosphere without permission. (Trust me, I know Nintendo lends out its copyrights to no man.)
So, whatever to the hypocrite. I yanked CAD from my bookmark list about halfway through the “robot goes nuts” storyline because it was dull and a telltale sign of how the strip has run out of steam. Which, isn’t necessarily surprising considering its birth as a pale imitation of PvP and PA.
October 20th, 2005 at 2:41 pm
I still kind of enjoy ctrl alt delete, although not as much my flatmate who’s sense of humour is a little less refined. Still, I am quite disappointed with this reaction. He might be right, but consider the reaction of Something Positive’s author Randy Millohand’s reaction- http://www.somethingpositive.net/ .He LINKED to the damn thing! But then Something Positive is easily the best strip out there.