[rumori] matt groening

Steev [rumori] matt groening
Wed, 27 Jan 1999 23:16:48 -0800 (PST) (00917507808, Pine.LNX.4.05.9901272316200.27050-100000atflotsam.detritus.net)


Okay, here i go, reading a magazine that sucks again. I swear (really!) i
don't usually read Wired (er, i mean, "Conde Naste's CyberCommodities for Ladies"), my housemate works there. anyway the cover story of the new (probably not out yet) issue is on Matt Groening and his new cartoon show
"Futurama". He says some interesting stuff about copyright:
Groening: ...Audiences expand the mythologies of a creator's
world.

Kevin Kelly: They also sometimes hijack the characters. As a kind of
counter-culture guy, what do you think of other people's
use of your characters?

G: Personally, I don't have a problem with it. This is part of the price
of being successful and being part of the culture [exactly!! -smh].
I love it when there is a crude painting of Bart in the window of
a bakery in East Los Angeles, I love the dreadlocked Bart Marleys.
Unfortunately, because of the nature of our world, artists are required to
vigourously defend their copyright or they lose it. I don't care if
some kids appropriate my stuff for their Web site, or some fraternity guys
make a bootleg Bart T-shirt. But when people are making millions
of dollars just ripping you off, then legally you have to go
after them. I have been accused of being a big bad guy because Fox
has come down heavily on people. All I can say is, I don't own
the copyright on The Simpsons - Fox does.

K: But you agree in principle with halting professional counterfeits?

G: This is a confusing area. Bart has been appropriated to promote the
vegetarian cause, which I have sympathy for, as well as neo-Nazi
skinhead stuff, which I don't. While I am delighted that so many
jpeople feel Bart is speaking to them, I am not happy about
the Nazi stuff.

K: Do you find the Internet makes the situation worse?

G: Again, it is an issue of my personal mark being used
to say things I would never say...

K: But it must be a great feeling to have this kind of response.

G: ...There are weekly fan-written Simpsons
scripts posted on the Internet. I can't read them - I will be accused
later on down the line of having stolen somebody's idea. But I love the
idea of it.




Steev Hise, Syssy Admin
steevathise.org http://www.cyborganic.com/people/steev recycled art site: http://www.detritus.net -----------------------------------------------------------------
"The old groups, they're not concerned, With what there is to be learned.
They sell 501s, and think its funny,
Turning rebellion into money." -Chumbawamba
-----------------------------------------------------------------

________________________
http://detritus.net