May 2006
Google’s attempt at Surrealism
Google’s idea to mark the birthday of Joan Miró did not go down very well with the artist's family.
Google frequently changes the style of the logo on its home page to commemorate special events or holidays. The search engine decided to revamp its logo for one day to mark the birthday of the surrealist Spanish painter and sculptor.
Miro’s family and the Artists Rights Society (ARS) objected to the Miró-themed logo on the grounds it incorporated graphic elements found in a number of Miró's works and that it also breached the artist's moral rights. Google was asked to take the logo down from its site.
Moral rights, particularly the right of an artist to the integrity of his work, protect artists from having their works modified without their approval.
New York-based ARS polices the copyright interests of visual artists and their estates.
Google denied that it had breached copyright but removed the logo.
There is arguably no copyright in a mere style but Google might have done more than just creating an image inspired by an artist style. The logo used recognisable elements of existing Miro painting.
Google is no stranger to allegations of copyright infringement. In 2002, Google had a similar dispute with ARS over a logo inspired by the style of Salvador Dali, another popular surrealist artist. When contacted by the society, Google agreed to remove the image.
The company is currently the defendant in separate lawsuits filed last year by the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild. The organisations, which represent thousands of writers, are challenging Google's initiative to scan library books protected under copyright law to include them in search results.
Google argues that it would act within the boundaries of copyright law because it would only publish extracts of the works in answer to search queries. Only documents and books in the public domain would be showed in their entirety.
BRIFFA's Comment:
Miro’s family might not have necessarily agreed to the pastiche if Google had informed them but some of the problems could have been avoided if Google had done its homework properly and asked for permission.
Clearance must be sought from collective administration bodies for the licensing of certain use of content protected or likely to be protected by copyright. Briffa can advise on clearance and assist with identifying and negotiating with the right organisation whether in music and sound recordings, printed material, artistic works and characters, broadcast material, films or TV listings.
Although it means some degree of expenditure before launch of any media which includes content protected by intellectual property rights, it can in the long run save money, embarrassment and avoiding costly litigation.
Sophie Lachowsky
sophie@briffa.com