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June 20, 2005
Best. Chick Tract. Ever
Click on the picture for a larger size.
<chuckle>
H/T Dr. G!
Posted by Azael at June 20, 2005 5:50 PM
Comments
Ah, now that's brilliant. Have you sent that to PZ Myers?
Posted by: paperwight at June 21, 2005 7:10 AM
Nope. Feel free :) Don't know who is responsible for the original....
Posted by: Hal at June 21, 2005 9:37 AM
It's by a guy who was forced by Chick to take it down, Howard Hallis (original location: http://www.howardhallis.com/bis/cthulhuchick/). Personally, I'd have thought his right to parody trumps Chick's copyright, which is why I wouldn't worry about any serious challenge.
Posted by: Inquisitor at June 21, 2005 1:15 PM
Yeah, that seems pretty squarely in the parody safe harbor, but a determined copyright holder (and Chick seems nothing if not determined) could force you to spend a lot of money to prove it. IAAL (of the right sort, even), but that ain't legal advice, just some off-the-cuff thoughts.
Posted by: paperwight at June 21, 2005 2:26 PM
Yea, I'm sure he'll continue to make everyone's life completely miserable. So, what's the deal with counter suing due to idiocy on Chick's part. Let's say you could take the initial hit assuming that you could re-extract it from Chick plus pain and suffering due to the idiocy of the suit... Is that a likely scenario, or do you just get to consider yourself lucky to survive because you could take the hit?
Posted by: Hal at June 21, 2005 4:07 PM
You'd have a hell of a time getting your money out of him. One would have to make a case for the tort of malicious prosecution, which is always hard. I guess depending on the state you could also sue him under an anti-SLAPP law. Those are laws that allow you to countersue someone, generally a corporation, who's suing you for the express purpose of getting you to STFU about a matter of public interest.
But basically, you'd probably just take the hit, although you might be able to find a funder or IP organization willing to run with your end of it, so the hit might not be that big.
Posted by: paperwight at June 21, 2005 7:37 PM
Sounds like a long, long nightmare....
Thanks.
Posted by: Hal at June 21, 2005 7:40 PM
I believe there are loopholes in the copyright laws concerning parodies, meaning that even if Chick's work is copyrighted, it can be used without permission or royalities for the purposes of parodies. I'm not sure about this, but check into it.
Posted by: lovedit at June 6, 2007 1:42 PM
I'm not a copyright lawyer, but the Cthulhu Chick Tract is exactly the kind of parody that Fair Use is meant to protect. I am completely outraged that Jack Chick would threaten someone who is making a legal parody of his product. He should be utterly ashamed of himself for even considering sending a threat, let alone actually doing so.
Posted by: Outraged by copyright abuse at September 9, 2007 9:59 AM
