A Tumblr blog gets thousands of followers by juxtaposing classic “Peanuts” cartoons with unrelated tweets. But “Peanutweeter” was shut down in June, several months after launching, due to a takedown notice from Iconix Brand Group, which jointly holds the copyright with the heirs of creator Charles Schulz.
Meanwhile, kiddie show “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” has somehow attracted an adult-male cult following, called “bronies” (bro + ponies), who take footage from the show and combine it with everything from foul-mouthed Wu-Tang Clan songs to R-rated movies like “Inglourious Basterds” (a practice known as “trackjacking”). Copyright holder Hasbro Studios has not only allowed most of the content to remain online, but it released a promotional video paying tribute to its unlikely fans.
Welcome to the confusing world of online parodies, where intellectual property gets manipulated in the name of comedy. And that is forcing content companies to make tough calls as to whether to embrace it all as free marketing or crack down, claiming copyright infringement.
» via Variety
Smart marketers will convince their clients that brand manipulation is a good thing even when people parody or twist their content beyond (their) recognition.
