My sister gave me a sixteen month Beatles calendar produced by the Mead corporation for Christmas. Even though I'm not a big Beatles fan, I still think that the calendar is pretty keen. On every page it features a black and white picture of the Beatles.
However, on the back of this calendar is an absurd message, some type of legal warning. It simply states, in tiny blue print, "The removal and reuse of pages in this work is strictly prohibited."
Always being one to read the fine print, I want to know who prohibits "the removal and reuse" and to what extent. After next December when I am done with the calendar, am I allowed to cut the pages up and reuse them on my wall? Could I cut out all of the pages, tape them together and make some type of table covering with them? If I wanted to make a collage with other calendar images, amd I allowed to do this? Am I allowed to rip the pages out and practice oragami? Can I crumple the pages up and use them with Windex to clean glass? If I'm in a pinch, am I allowed to crumple them up and use them Sears catalog style? Are there restrictions on recycling?
Moreover, this warning says nothing about patent, trademark, or copyright. This causes me to assume that no government arm can possible enforce this restriction. So, my next question is who is the one that enforces this supposed prohibition? Will the original photographer of the calendar images come back and sue me? Will I be haunted by an apparition of John Lennon, back from the grave and angry that I misued his likeness? Does the Mead school supplies corporation have a militant arm that enforces its restrictions?
I don't know, but maybe next year when I am done with the calendar I will attempt to find out. I'll have over a year to plot the removal and alternate usages of pages of Beatles calendars. If anyone has any info about this vague restriction, please let me know.
By the way, I searched on Wal-Mart (where the calendar was originally purchased) and Amazon and I haven't been able to find it for sale online. The ISBN number listed on the back of the calendar is 0-7688-8015-7.
If you want more information about bizzare legal restrictions on consumer goods and copyrights, BoingBoing is your place to search.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
RESTRICTIONS IN THE PASSIVE VOICE
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1 comments:
Ha - this is hilarious. I just found the same notice on my new Tenacious D calendar, also from Mead. I received the calendar as a gift - do you think they'll be able to track me down through my friend to find that I've pasted a few pictures of Jack Black on my wall? Do you suppose that the 2008 calendars will include a requirement that the artwork only be displayed during the associated month, "or else?"
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