Greetings!
I just received notification that you or someone representing your organization filed copyright complaints against four videos that I created and posted on my YouTube channel.
The videos were for The Doubtful Guest, The Insect God, The Object Lesson, and The Fatal Lozenge.
They were slideshows accompanied by audio tracks reading the text and were intended as homage pieces to share the appreciation of Edward Gorey's work.
I received no form of compensation aside from "hits" or "views" which do not translate into currency.
The videos were relatively well viewed and well-appreciated by Edward Gorey enthusiasts.
Also, in accordance with the guidelines of Fair Use, I did not profit from the use of this content, and they were not intended to, nor can I conceive of any way that they could, deprive you of any monetary compensation or your ability to profit from your copyright.
So essentially you've just had four videos created by a fan of Edward Gorey to celebrate his work that have been viewed and enjoyed by tens of thousands of other Edward Gorey fans taken down out of pure spite and as a way to flex your muscle as the copyright holder of the work of Edward Gorey.
How charitable of you!
Particularly annoying about all of this is that I sent your organization an e-mail, like, four years ago when I originally made the videos asking your organization for your blessing or if you'd be interesting in allowing me to borrow the copyrighted material to expand the concept and create narrated videos for all of the works of Edward Gorey with the intention of creating a product, such as a DVD of the videos that you COULD sell to allow you to further whatever the intentions of your charitable organization are and I NEVER RECEIVED A REPLY!
So, for the past four or five years it's been fine that people have been enjoying the videos I made to celebrate the work of Edward Gorey out of a common appreciation for the artist that you claim to represent in a charitable capacity but now, suddenly, it's a problem because you learned how to use the internet today?
Again, how charitable.
If you would like to reply and try to ameliorate this situation I'd be interested in knowing what the opinion of the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust is regarding this incident.
But I won't be holding my breath as I've been waiting around FIVE YEARS for a response to my initial inquiry by e-mail.
So in the meantime I guess someone will just have to make professional quality DVDs out of the videos, which they are well capable of, since they still want to share their appreciation for the work of Edward Gorey.
And I don't think it would be unreasonable for them to charge a slight fee from potential purchasers of these DVDs for the time and effort it would take to put them together and for the cost of the materials to make the DVDs.
So, thank you, the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust for filing a complaint against the videos where I was sharing the videos I made for free.
You've inspired me to make the videos available for someone to distribute as hard copies for profit.
Please, by all means continue your charitable efforts on behalf of one of my favorite authors.
I'm sure he would be pleased to know that you are actively preventing the well-intentioned distribution of his work in his absence.
Yours,
A Fan Of Edward Gorey
(But Decidedly NOT A Fan Of The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust)
UPDATE: October 20th, 2013
From: edwardgoreyhouse@verizon.net
To: scott_lefebvre@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Edward Gorey
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 13:33:55 -0400
Scott,
I checked my past messages and I find that I did respond to you inquiry of 22 Feb 2009 with this response. I will forward your email of 7 Oct 2013 on to them as well.
Rick Jones
Edward Gorey House
Director / Curator
On Feb 22, 2009, at 12:09 PM, Rick Jones wrote:
Hi,
Thanks for your message and information on your proposed project.
We will send your message to the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust as they hold and control all copyright for Mr. Gorey's images and uses.
They are the only people who can grant the appropriate permission, especially on items that are to be sold, as they do require contracts on items for sale.
Thank you for your interest in Edward Gorey.
Rick Jones
Director / Curator
Edward Gorey House
On Feb 22, 2009, at 8:28 AM, Scott Lefebvre wrote:
Greetings!
I have long been a fan of Edward Gorey.
Both his printed works and the general style of his art and aesthetics.
I have been thinking about doing a series of animated projects based on his works.
In preparation for preparing several of these narrated projects, I have prepared an example.
This example, a rendering of 'The Insect God' is available for review here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-ait6MSqmM
I was interested in discussing the possibility of obtaining permission, or at least the blessing, of The Edward Gorey House as the most prominent preservers of the life and work of Edward Gorey.
If The Edward Gorey House is pleased with this initial example, I would like to prepare a DVD worth of narrated Animated Amphigorey and discuss the possibility of offering this DVD for sale through The Edward Gorey House, thus allowing me to do my part to help to preserve the legacy of Edward Gorey.
I am most interested in reading your response to my proposal, as I am eager to begin production of additional projects.
Thank you.
Scott Lefebvre
Rick Jones
Edward Gorey House
Director / Curator
UPDATE: October 21st, 2013
RE: Edward Gorey / permission request
Dear Mr. Lefebvre – The trustees of the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust, owner of all copyrights and related rights to Mr. Gorey’s works, have asked me to inform you that they do not wish to license the rights you have requested. As I am sure you will understand, there are many proposals pending at any time for these and related rights to Mr. Gorey’s works, and the trustees are obligated to pursue those they believe most likely to result in increased revenues for the Trust’s charitable beneficiaries.Thanks for your interest in Mr. Gorey’s works, and kind regards.
M. Graham Coleman | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
1633 Broadway, 27th Floor | New York, NY 10019
Tel: (212) 603-6442 | Fax: (212) 379-5242
Email: mgrahamcoleman@dwt.com | Website: www.dwt.com
UPDATE: October 22nd, 2013
Edward Gorey Works
Dear Mr. Lefebvre,
As co-trustee of the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust, I can tell you that the Trust has no record of having received the email you sent back in 2009 to the Edward Gorey House, although I now see that Rick Jones had attempted to forward it to us at that time. I do not know why we never received it. When we discovered your videos of Edward Gorey’s works on YouTube we did not know that they were produced by a person who had attempted to request authorization to use Gorey works in this manner 4 years ago. Having said that, upon seeing your videos it was our duty as trustee of the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust and counsel to the Trust to act immediately to have them taken down, as their public display constituted extensive copyright infringement and risked a reduction in the value of the infringed works, which we use to raise funds for the support of animal welfare organizations, that being the reason for the existence of the Trust.
It is ordinarily our practice to require that infringements of this kind be taken down immediately, but on the assumption that the infringement may have been an innocent act of one unfamiliar with the law of copyright we do not ordinarily pursue legal action against the infringer if the infringement does not continue. If, however, in your case we learn that you have continued to exploit these videos after being advised that they constitute copyright infringement and after as copyright owners we have insisted that they no longer be displayed in any manner, it may be necessary for us to take necessary action to terminate this unauthorized use of the works of Edward Gorey and to seek appropriate damages. Your email of October 7 seems clearly to threaten continued actions in violation of the copyright in these Gorey works, and we respectfully request that you reconsider this plan and confirm that you will not publicly display, sell or otherwise make available the videos that were displayed on YouTube. If you truly admire the works of Edward Gorey and wish not to interfere with the charitable purposes to which he asked his works to be applied, we will expect to hear from you without delay that you will agree to this request. This request is without prejudice to our right to take action if deemed necessary.
R. Andrew Boose | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
1633 Broadway, 27th Floor | New York, NY 10019
Tel: (212) 603-6408 | Fax: (212) 379-5208
Email: andrewboose@dwt.com | Website: www.dwt.com
Anchorage | Bellevue | Los Angeles | New York | Portland | San Francisco | Seattle | Shanghai | Washington, D.C.
My reply:
Duly noted.
The preceding reply from M. Graham Coleman was sufficient and much more polite.
"Dear Mr. Lefebvre – The trustees of the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust, owner of all copyrights and related rights to Mr. Gorey’s works, have asked me to inform you that they do not wish to license the rights you have requested. As I am sure you will understand, there are many proposals pending at any time for these and related rights to Mr. Gorey’s works, and the trustees are obligated to pursue those they believe most likely to result in increased revenues for the Trust’s charitable beneficiaries.
Thanks for your interest in Mr. Gorey’s works, and kind regards.
M. Graham Coleman | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
1633 Broadway, 27th Floor | New York, NY 10019
Tel: (212) 603-6442 | Fax: (212) 379-5242
Email: mgrahamcoleman@dwt.com | Website: www.dwt.com"
I request that any future correspondence from the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust be conducted through M. Graham Coleman.
Thank you for your time and effort in consideration of the preceding.
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