Marvel Comics, the copyright holders of the Spiderman imagery along with that of many other superheroes, is going up for a fight with a chain of kipa stores in Jerusalem.
Binyamin, the guy from the Kippa-Man store, responded to the suit by saying they are suing the wrong guy. He said his store does not manufacture them, so he is not the person violating the copyright. he simply orders the kippot from China. According to Binyamin, Marvel should be chasing down the factory in China and suing them.
I don't know if it is a fair fight - on the one side you have a team of superheroes, with guys like Spidey and Captain America, The Hulk and Iron Man, among others, all teaming up to pound on a guy with a kipa in his corner. Will the superheroes defeat the kipa, or will the kipa be too powerful? Or maybe the kippa is just a bluff with nothing behind it, if he is stealing in the process...
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This is one of the major problems with current copyright law. Neither kippa man nor Marvel want to be in this lawsuit. Marvel will end up paying in lawyer and court fees more than what they they have lost. Though, if they don't vigorously protect their IP, they lose their rights and can't even go after the big time rip offs that profit millions a year off of spiderman.
ReplyDeleteSounds like Binyamin needs to brush up on his copyright law - both he and the manufacturer are liable
ReplyDeleteAgree with HaSafran, not knowing the law does not make one exempt from it.
ReplyDeleteThere is a minor scoop here though. I was under the impression that the cheaper kipot were coming from PA Arabs, so at least the money was 'staying in the country'. But kipot made in China? Well, I guess if cheap tzizit come from there, anything goes.
Josh