Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Google and copyright (moral rights)

Diglet reports that the family of Joan Miro and the Artists Rights Society asked Google to take down the Miro-esque logo that Google created to celebrate the artist's birthday. Google quickly complied.

Now, I don't know if Google's logo violated the artist's moral rights, but I do know that many people look at that logo and then follow-up to see who or what is being honored on the day of a special logo. It is likely that many, many more people became aware of Joan Miro on April 20 because of the logo. I know that doesn't make doing something Fair Use, but it is sad that the Artists Rights Society couldn't see the benefit and perhaps find a way to work with Google to help the company find an acceptable middle-ground that it can use in the future.

1 comment:

Dennis Moser said...

I wonder if Google had bothered to contact either the Miro family or the Artists Rights Society BEFORE using the logo? Sure, it may be "easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission" but sometimes you can get more/better mileage by asking first.

I certainly did when photographing a sculpture of Richard Serra; the rights group was happy to grant permission for me to use the portfolio.