[Noisebridge-discuss] so i am writing this letter to dreamworks

[Danny O'Brien]

... who asked us for permission to use the Noisebridge logo in their
Wikileaks movie. The consensus is that we should write to them to
explain that in a sane world, they wouldn't need to ask permission to
use a logo when conducting free speech discussions of such matters --
that nominative fair use should work to cover any such usage, as long
as they don't suggest that Noisebridge is paying for the movie, or
endorses it. But sadly, some industries (hem hem) pursue a crazy
maximalist intellectual property model that believes that you can't
even use simple words and symbols without some elaborate licensing
regime, and that simple conversations can be wiped out and censored in
the interests of pursuing a bizarro version of an outdated system of
copyright control.  So, we're not going to give them permission,
because we believe that they don't need it, and the only reason we
would sue them is that if we were ethically bankrupt greedy fools. So
really whether they use the symbol is down to their own vision of what
they themselves think their fellow humans are like. If they think that
the world is simply full of people who pursue goals for money and
selfish motives, they should probably not use the Noisebridge logo. If
they think hackers might be actually an ethical bunch of people who
would not compromise their ideals simply to make a buck, they should
go ahead and use it.

Anyway, I will edit that down at some point, but in the meantime --
would somebody like to photoshop incorporate the noisebridge logo as
the moon in the Dreamworks logo? It would allow me to explain how
logos might be used, using fair use, as part of an ongoing
conversation. (Incorporating the peeing unicorn is an optional extra).

d.