One of the concerns about Woolworths’ hummingbird scatter cushions is that the retailer used text from a Wikipedia article about hummingbirds as a background to the hummingbird image which attracted most of the attention in the controversy which raged over the weekend.
Tag Archives: #HummingbirdGate
Hypocrisy, ignorance and the #HummingbirdGate controversy
The allegation that Euodia Roets is a hypocrite for misappropriating RW Scott’s photograph as the basis for the sketch she contends Woolworths, in turn, misappropriated ignores a few important issues. First, was Ms Roets’ sketch actually an infringement of RW Scott’s photograph? Secondly, Woolworths’ failure to comply with the Creative Commons license Wikipedia applies to its content could have profound implications for Woolworths. Lastly, this debate highlights a remarkable degree of ignorance of the law in the digital marketing and creative industries.
A Few More Thoughts About the @Woolworths_SA #HummingbirdGate Controversy
I thought I’d explore some of the legal themes that have emerged from this #HummingbirdGate story even though the story has since developed further and doesn’t seem to be quite what everyone assumed it was in the first place. Two major legal themes are copyright infringement and unlawful competition.
