Sued By Roy Orbison (almost)

In 1998, I was one year into my Londons Times Cartoon project. I was still living, working, and trying to survive in an abandoned rural Mississippi warehouse. Nobody would rent to me as they, I am certain, felt this former 9-5 business executive had lost his mind for launching a cartoon at age forty three. I was a year into the project. It was a bumpy road. I was beyond determined, I was obsessed.

Not a lot was going right, I could clearly see it was a hobby, and I would eventually need to take some kind of job in sales, but for now, I was determined to put this cartoon on the Internet, whether it ever made money or not. I became myopic in my thinking. I didn't socialize as much. I simply kept my nose to the grindstone (keyboard in this case) and telephone. There was not Google, blogs, social networking, bookmarking, SEO and all the other goodies that make it so much easier today. It was always a hustle.

Then a marketing idea hit me, which, at the time, I thought was brilliant (I humbly add). I would create another series of cartoons called "Panel Hollywood" and feature real life celebrity caricatures and then mail signed copies directly to them or to their agent to forward. Out of the 150 or so that we created and mailed, about twelve responded, and even offered reviews, which was my strategy. Their reviews of the work remain on my main cartoon website.
One day, while toiling away on a hot summer afternoon, an email arrived. It was from the estate of the late, great Roy Orbison. It was from his widow Barbara's assistant, who wanted to know if they could purchase the rights to a Roy Orbison cartoon on my website. Ms. Orbison loved the cartoon so much, she wanted to make custom greeting cards for her friends and Roy Orbison fans. They had seen it on my website. I had not mailed a copy of it to them yet, as I'd not located the estate yet, or its representatives.

Naturally, I offered it gratis, letting her know that he (Roy) had brought me so much pleasure throughout the years, and so many others, I need to sleep at night, and there would be no charge.

She thanked me profusely, and used the card which was later revealed to be a wonderful success.

Over the years, I have received threatening letters from attorneys of some celebrities of which I have used their likeness in parody. At first this frightened me, so I consulted with major cartoonists way above my league, who assured me most of the best cartoonists receive at least one per month, and many of them frame them. I talked to an attorney who taught me about "The Fair Use Act" in the U.S. Constitution, and how it protects such parody. My attorney revealed that those greedy attorneys, simply spend all day cruising the Internet, in hopes of finding someone who was clueless to the law, and would "settle with them". And I was told this works quite often (even though the attorneys do not have case).

So I started framing the threatening letters like all the rest. Even the late Charles Schulz, whom I highly respected and made himself available to me when starting, had received them.

My biggest surprise was about five years after Ms.Orbison and I did business and had a very nice business relationship. I received a letter from a large Houston law firm representing the Orbison estate demanding cease and desist, not only to take down all the images, but to provide an accounting of what had been sold, and "they would probably settle rather than take this to court".
Not that this makes me an authority by any means, but my maternal direct ancestry includes former Supreme Court Judge Benjamin Cardozo. His name might not mean much to many, but his words do to many attorneys. His books, his writings, until this day, are generally the "final word" in interpretation of Constitutional Law.

Again, this does not make me an expert, but, more than homework and the last episode of The Adams Family were discussed at our dinner table. Talk of legal rights, civil rights, and rights of expression were instilled very early. Before I was 18, I clearly understood the difference between parody and copyright infringement. Parody is protected by the Fair Use Act. Infringement is not. Our work is total parody. We make it very clear in both the artwork and text.
I remembered that attorney I had hired a long time ago and it all made sense. A lot of these celebrity lawyers are working on their client's behalf, but ironically, the celebrity (or estate executor...in this case Ms. Orbison) hadn't a clue I was being threatened for something she already had in her possession, and enjoying.

Then I remembered a story Charles Schulz told me. Mad Magazine ran a hilarious parody of Peanuts. The day it hit the stands, Schulz's attorneys shot out a gruesome letter of what would happen to "Mad" if they did not remove all copies and pay their client for damages. What the lawyers did not know what that Mr. Schulz had also seen that Mad issue, and loved the parody so much, he sent them a congratulatory note telling them how brilliant it was.

If you are a person who works in the arts, and creates images of real celebrities in parody form, it is a very good idea to Google and learn about "The Fair Use Act". This is important, not only because it educates the creator to know his/her rights, but keeps that element who has entered the world of law to erode our precious Constitution and this great country, any more than they already have. Freedom of speech (and expression) is one of the major differences in our Constitution, and say the one of the former Soviet Union, or Iraq, or Iran.
I decided to call that attorney whom (I could tell) felt I was calling her ivory tower law office to beg forgiveness on bended knees, and offer a hefty settlement; at least one large enough for that a few of her upcoming German car payments. She seemed a bit surprised at my confidence. Even more surprised when I began questioning her.

I asked, "Thank you for your email regarding the Orbison cartoon. I have one question. Did you
talk to your client before threatening me and this is what she wanted?"
She replied, "Of course". (and then some sort of condescending nonsense meant to intimidate me).
I added, "Why don't you call her again, and ask her about the free rights I gave her several years ago to make her custom Christmas cards and how successful they were?"
There was a long silence.
I asked, "Are there any other questions you have for me, Barrister?"
She abruptly said, "I have a client in my office and can't talk right now. We'll have to discuss this at a later date".

Ironically, I had just rented Jim Carey's "Liar Liar" and got a good chuckle from the whole event, even though it left me more appreciative and understanding of the film. I knew many lawyers, some in my family, had dated some, and I knew they did not all behave that way; they in fact, got their facts straight before calling. And they need to know whether or not they are talking to someone who understands the law before trying "such a shakedown".
When an attorney is doing his/her job right, that is, finding real copyright infringement criminals and making them pay, they are doing a great thing. When they go after humor producers of parody, especially without even contacting their own client first, they are showing a real sense of irresponsibility, limited capabilities, and incompetencies of practicing the law the way our Founding Fathers had in mind.

The old school of law no longer works, that is, put together a big powerful law firm and win by intimidation. The Internet changed all that similarly to the way the Civil War started The Industrial Revolution, and the powerful land owners/farmers could no longer behave corruptly.
There are enough well-read blogs, online papers, etc. to yank down any corrupt law firm, (or any firm for that matter) within a day, if that firm misbehaves. Enron, MCI-Worldcomm and Arthur Anderson (among many others) would have never happened if not for the Internet. The "little guy" now had privy to once hidden information, networked, used it wisely, and brought them down. It can and has happened to corrupt law firms as well.

A message to good lawyers who just want to serve the public to uphold the law: Good job. Keep up the great work A message to the money-grabbers like the one in this story: Let me know when your office suddenly closes; I'll do my best to find you a job in our printing or warehousing department if there is a slot opened.
I own a number of E-stores.
bragging, machismo, hype story, but it is not that at all. There is a moral to it.
The majority of attorneys, believe it or not, are not of this mindset. But the
small percentage of those who are, are not only self-destructive, but also "other-destructive" and more importantly "freedom and democracy" destructive. I can only imagine what our founding fathers would think of their actions if they were still alive today. My guess is they would move back to England.

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