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player ready...Just in time for the holidays, here’s a new toy to consider: Courthouse Barbie. It’ll be a cool addition to that new home video, Star Trek: The Wrath of Viacom.
No, Mattel Inc. isn’t offering this particular doll, as far as I know. And Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom International Inc., isn’t really making such a movie. But they might as well, given both companies’ efforts to stamp out unauthorized Web sites featuring their well-known icons.
I’m not here to blindly denounce anyone who tries to protect trademarked or copyrighted material from on-line thieves. Given the way I make a living, that would be obtuse. And there’s no doubt that Mattel and Paramount face a genuine dilemma in a world where anyone can publish almost anything for a global audience.
But in their war on the unauthorized use of their corporate crown jewels, these companies are missing several points. For one thing, the doctrine of “fair use” allows third parties to use otherwise protected material in limited ways. For another, the Internet mocks attempts at tight control. And, when you think about it, annoying the devoted fans who look at these sites is a questionable marketing strategy.
It’s easy enough to understand why Paramount and Mattel are less than thrilled with some sites. Exploitation and satire are big on the Web, making Barbie and the Trekker heroes irresistible targets.
One of the Star Trek sites, for example, features links to some fairly risque material including photos of nude models made up as Klingons. Some of the Barbie sites, meanwhile, feature savagely accurate parodies of the moronic dolls.
The last time I checked, parody was an absolutely protected form of speech. Tell that to the operators of tiny Web sites who’ve been threatened by lawyers from giant companies; they lose in that situation simply by having to pay lawyers to defend themselves.
But the Net is fighting back. If Mattel is paying its lawyers by the hour, the company will see some large bills before this is over. Even as Mattel was putting the legal screws to Mark Napier, an artist who created clever “Distorted Barbie” images on his site (http://www.users.interport.net/napier/b arbie/), other Net denizens simply put up “mirror sites” (such as http://www.distrito.com/usuarios/photog/barbie/) that replicated his work.
The companies’ displeasure with the pure fanzine sites is more difficult to fathom. These, after all, are run by people who can’t get enough of the products and whose viewers feel much the same way. Mattel and Paramount have defended themselves publicly, saying they have no choice but to protect their intellectual property. Sometimes, though, the best offense is the worst defense.
This kind of debate is nothing new, actually. If you’ve attended a concert by a popular recording artist, you’ve probably seen notices forbidding any recording of the event. Recording artists and their record companies tend to believe that music fans will either attend fewer shows or buy fewer albums if people can listen to unauthorized concert tapes.
That logic never made sense to one of the most popular bands of all time, the Grateful Dead. People attending Dead shows were encouraged to bring tape recorders. A huge market in Dead concert tapes developed–and only spurred Deadheads in their love for the band and its music.
Hmmm. That gives me an idea for a new doll, or maybe a Web site. I’d rather see Deadhead Barbie than Courhouse Barbie any day. In the meantime, Mattel and Paramount should just lighten up.