Photograph By: Laney Griner
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/success-kid-steve-king/
Copyright Law in the U.S. is a hot topic lately.
Memes are everywhere and used for all kinds of things. Recently Representative Steve King (R-Iowa) used the Success Kid meme to rally his supporters to fund his meme useage and raise money.
The kid's, pictured in the meme, mother was not at all cool with this. Laney Griner had her lawyers send King's staff a cease-and-desist letter to stop using the meme.
This brings up some very interesting points and issues on fair use of popular memes.
What constitutes fair use and what laws govern whether or not someone can use it and for what.
Photographs are copyrightable. That is a given. But when does a photograph become memeable and thus fair use to use.
Also who governs what the photo can be used for and what it can’t? For example Success Kid has been a meme for almost 10 years. At some point shouldn’t there be a cut off on copyright claims to the graphic? Or should it be different for political use?
What do you think? I’d love to hear. Post your thoughts in the comment section below or email me at seth@insightsontech.com.
Insights On Tech Ep. 3 - Memes and Copyright Law