So... um... I'd never imagined having to say something like this. I think my intellectual property has been stolen. You know how the RIAA gets all hot and bothered when
a single mom downloads some music, and they fuck up her life forever. Yeah this is a bit different.
As some of you may know, a certain character that I used to doodle often was imitated by an acquaintance of mine whom I lost touch with after middle school. Cool. So when I was told that the drawing had become widely accepted as an Lancos bird, I was outraged, but of course mainly for comic effect. It was a doodle after all, nothing tremendously interesting. But tonight I was invited to join a Facebook group in which one can purchase a T-shirt of the "Lancos Kiwi" for 15 US$. The group's main function is to spread the phenomenon of the image. I'm all for the kiwi becoming a popular. Somehow using it for monetary gain concerns me. Let us review the case of
Joseph Swan, the first to patent the light bulb, some say. What also bothers me is his use of a trademark next to the drawing. Is this to prevent others from
ripping off his idea? I leave it at that. I intend to congratulate him on creating such a following for my favorite bird. We'll see what happens from there, and whether or not I'll have to fish through my old things at home to find one of the thousands of kiwis I drew in years before I met this fellow. To be fair he did invite me into the group, and perhaps recognition is among his reasons for doing so. Equally likely, he doesn't even remember where he "thought it up," and was a mass group invite. And in all honesty my brother/Jumping Flash probably deserves the credit for it all. Hmmm.... more on that later.
_______________________
What's life without juicy details?
