I am an amateur photographer, some of my work has been published but little has ever sold. Currently I am in the process of loading examples of my work onto the Redbubble website (link below). Redbubble is a create on demand platform, the customer can order an image or design, printed on a tee shirt, a baseball cap, a clock and many other items.
I was out most of the day on Friday the 5th of November and as is my habit, I checked my emails in the evening. I was shocked to discover that three of my designs had been removed by Redbubble as they were deemed to be in breach of copyright. The company making the complaint is the Disney Corporation and the images removed are titled Cinderella.
This is the text of the
email: Hi Daniel, We’re sorry, but we had to remove your
artwork from the Redbubble marketplace, because it may contain material that
violates someone’s rights. The owner of these rights has provided us with
guidance describing the type of content they consider infringing that should be
removed from the marketplace. In most cases, this means that the rights holder
did not specifically identify your work for removal, but that Redbubble has
detected potential similarity between your removed work and one or more words,
phrases or images included in the rights holder’s removal guidance.
More information: Rights holder: Disney Enterprises, Inc. Subject matter: Disney Princesses
There is a link below to my photography and I admit I have used the name Cinderella. It may surprise some but when I think of Cinderella, I do not immediately think of Walt Disney. No, my first thought is the traditional English Pantomime and my second is the rather earthy European folktale. Any similarity is generic and I have certainly not based my interpretation of the folktale on the Disney film of that name. It was only when looking into the matter that I learned, Disney had recently remade the story.
For those not aware of the history, versions of Cinderella or the Glass Slipper have been dated to around the birth of Christ (Strabo 7 BC - 23 AD). Then it was a leather sandal. The development of the story as an oral folktale and later in literature, can be traced through the Renaissance (Giambattista Basile 1634). Perhaps the most famous version; that of the Brothers Grimm, appeared in print in 1812.
I have naturally appealed but I know nothing will be done. I am a nobody living in central England, the Disney Corporation is a billion dollar global company. My appeal is a point of principle. It concerns me that any company could do this. That any company should think it owns a folktale that is estimated to be 2000 years old. That a company can 'copyright' European culture. If you are a historian, a folklorist or an artist, this should concern you. Perhaps an executive from Disney would like to meet me in Nottingham or Doncaster? We could then discuss who 'owns' Robin Hood.
Cinderella
https://chatteringmagpie-summonerofthehearth.blogspot.com/2021/11/cinderella.html
Redbubble
https://www.redbubble.com/people/Magpieshoppe/shop?asc=u&ref=account-nav-dropdown
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