Copyright and Memes

Recently, I noticed an increase in memes coming though my social media feeds, as well as a good deal of discussion regarding copyright for various things. One of the subjects I have worked with students and teachers on for the last 14 years is understanding and trying not to knowingly violate copyright law.

The example, albeit simplified, I use with teens is generally this:

You take an absolutely hilarious or mind-blowing picture and post it on your insta account. You garner a large number of likes, and your followers are now sharing the picture with some of their followers. One day a meme comes to  your attention and it USES YOUR PICTURE AS THE BACKGROUND. What? How did this happen. Not only that, but the person posting it has licensed the meme and is making money by using it to sell t-shirts and the like. How do you feel?

This generates a good discussion regarding ownership of images and how it can be reposted and taken from sites other than the original poster's site. We discuss fairness, legality, and feelings over things like this.

What does the law say? The European Union made it very clear a few years ago that memes violate copyright unless permission is granted, it is public domain, or the person creating the meme owns the copyright. American law states it is a derivative work and therefore copyright protected. Proving a still image is a parody, in order to claim fair use, is difficult to say the least. If it is a staged image, it is considered creative with greater protections than if it is a still image taken from a real-life event which is a factual event (and can be made into parody with the words added).

Then I bring forth a few examples:

Example #1: Anything using a Disney image or character. Disney is VERY protective of copyrights and trademarks. They can and do send cease and desist letters quite frequently. (They have closed churches that had to sell the building to pay legal fees and fines, even! Daycare centers are also targeted.)

Example #2: Success Kid! You've seen the little toddler with his pumped fist (which was actually full of sand he was trying to eat actually). His mother copyrighted the image and sells it for licensing fees. Therefore it is a huge NO if you want to use or even repost a meme with the image because it falls under "costing the copyright holder money" situation. His mother has sent cease and desist letters, and even a lawsuit, to politicians and a fireworks company to name to examples.

Reposting is different from creating a meme, and less likely to get you into trouble. However, borrowing a library book and copying it or making a copy of a copy both involve copyright infringement. Solution? I'm not sure there is one. I always recommend to students to err on the side of caution, take their own pictures (even if they are staged), and create memes using them. After all, the image is only part of a successful meme. The words are extremely important!