I have frequently expressed amusement, shock and astonishment; with regards the Internet. The low standards of behaviour, as displayed by what we call ‘keyboard warriors’ are beyond belief. At other times I stand amazed at the blatant stupidity of those who should know better. One infamous example being when Facebook attempted to ban references to ‘faggots and peas,’ seemingly unaware of the existence of that English delicacy.
Recently however, I have been reminded of a spurious copyright infringement that was levelled against me by Disney. I refer to that instance in another post (Disney owns the World) and a link to that post is below. The reason I am reminded of my own case, is because a somewhat similar one is now being levelled against a public house in Cornwall.
In my own example I had entitled my original art ‘Cinderella’ and was then informed by my hosting website, that Disney claims ownership of Cinderella. The import of this is that there is a threat to the independence of writers, artists, historians and folklorists by global companies. I naturally appealed but both Disney and Redbubble, chose to ignore my appeal. Well of course they would, I am a nobody and not a big business.
In the example of the public house in Cornwall however, we have an even more ridiculous example than that of Facebook or Disney. The magazine Vogue has written to a public house called the Star Inn at Vogue and asked them to drop the name Vogue as it may cause product confusion. Yes, seriously. We are expected to believe that people may confuse a public house with a fashion magazine.
Vogue is the name of the village and as yet it is unclear, if Vogue magazine have written to the Parish Council; requesting that the name of the village be changed. The public house itself has been in existence for approximately two centuries and that is at least one century longer than the magazine. The village or hamlet of Vogue itself, is of Medieval origin and grew up around the mining industry. The village therefore, predates the magazine by nearly five hundred years.
The owners of the Star Inn at Vogue have written to the publishers of the magazine to explain, as politely as possible and the Cornish are very polite; that they will not be changing the name of the public house or that of the village. The entire episode is quite rightly, being treated with derision by the locals of Cornwall. The publishers of Vogue magazine have made fools of themselves and it is with some bewilderment that we have to ask why?
Why did they think this was a good idea? Who is the clown employed by the publisher and thinks that sending out such a bizarre letter is a sensible one? Does anyone employed by the magazine have any common sense? The gross stupidity of the action however, forces me to ask one very serious question. They can send out ludicrous letters but can they tie their own shoelaces?
Read the news article here:
UPDATE: The publishers of Vogue have sent an apology.
Daniel Bran Griffith - The Chattering Magpie 
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