Copyright As Censorship: Comic Artist Uses DMCA To Censor Critical Blogs

[Mike]

Another in our series on copyright being used for censorship. Pointed out by Kevin Carson, comic artist Randy Queen, the author of Darkchylde has apparently filed a bunch of DMCA takedown notices against posts on the Escher Girls Tumblr page -- which "archives and showcases the prevalence of certain ways women are depicted" in various pop media, including comics. It appears that Queen did not like being criticized in this manner.

And, yes, it does appear that the Tumblr made use of his artwork -- after all that's what it does -- but it seems like a fairly clear case of fair use, given the purpose and nature of the account. Furthermore, the creators of the site note that other critical posts on other Tumblrs have apparently been removed, but they haven't found any positive versions of his work removed:

So yesterday I found out that Randy Queen (artist of DarkChylde) filed a bunch of DMCA takedown notices to Tumblr to remove posts of his covers on this blog (the entire posts, not just the images). I’ve also gotten messages from other users that he’s had their stuff removed too (redraws, etc that have been featured here). Non-critical Tumblr posts of his art/covers and those praising his work appear to be unaffected.

The folks behind Escher Girls apparently aren't inclined to fight it (and even say they don't wish to pick a fight with Queen), but are just informing people of what's going on. Still it is troubling. It's worrisome that Queen appears to be abusing the DMCA in this manner. It's unfortunate that Tumblr just gave in. It's disappointing that Escher Girls apparently isn't even going to file a counternotice.

The end result is the same again: copyright is being used for censorship of criticism, rather than as an incentive for creativity.

Originally Published: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 15:59:56 GMT
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