Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/02/26/some-really-fun-posters-of-the-muppets-celebrating-the-national-parks.html
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Illustrations posted with the permission of Danny Beckwith.
But the question is - does Danny Beckwith have the permission of the Muppets and the National Park Service?
The linked site is blocked so I can’t tell it this is a legit effort or just fan-art.
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I’m guessing fan art at this point, at least until whoever owns the IP for the Muppets catches wind of it and how they react. I’m less worried about how the NPS will react; they seem to have a pretty good handle on ‘hey, this is free advertising and smacks more of fair use’ than anything.
I could be wrong, though.
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That would be Disney. I don’t expect it to last long.
Geeze some of you are fuddy-duddies.
Fan art like this is pretty much ignored unless there is something really bad to damage the brand (sex, Nazis, etc) Even if he is selling prints, he is no different than thousands of people on etsy or at various comiccons. Occasionally if it is TOO good and TOO successful they might go after someone. But those cases are extraordinary.
Just enjoy something wholesome for once.
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Now he needs to do one with The Great Gonzo doing a motorcycle jump over Bryce Canyon.
Or I guess he could do a series using Warner Brothers characters and add Wile E. Coyote, but that would probably be too obvious.
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NPS, as a US government agency, cannot hold copyright to published work, as its workproduct belongs equally to all citizens. At least that’s how I was taught back in the dark ages.
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“MuppetLabs takes on Volcanoes National Park. What could possibly go wrong?”
Fan art is a legal and PR slippery slope.
If an owner clamps down too hard, they run the risk of creating a nasty and undesirable corporate and brand reputation.
But if you don’t enforce your IP rights (even when the infringement is fairly benign) you risk leaving your brand open to further infringement from bad actors later or losing control all together.
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