HBO Denies Lawsuit Threat Over Teen's 'Game of Thrones' Fan Art
Copyright law misunderstandings are coming!
It made for a juicy headline, if nothing else: "'HBO can shove it where the sun doesn't shine': Father's fury after Game of Thrones threatens to SUE his daughter, 13, girl for using the phrase 'winter is coming' in her art project." Tyrion Lannister would appreciate that kind of spice, but HBO did not.
Mad dad Jonathan Wilcox lashed out at HBO and "Game of Thrones" on behalf of his daughter, Felicity Wilcox, 13, telling the Daily Mail of the U.K. that HBO threatened to sue his autistic daughter over her art competition. She got an email warning saying she faced legal action for copyright from HBO unless she removed the phrase "Winter is Coming." Papa Wilcox used some colorful phrases to blast HBO for "picking on a 13-year-old girl."
But not so fast! HBO fired back, saying they did not threaten Wilcox with a lawsuit, and the email did not come from them. Turns out, young Felicity had joined an artwork competition on the website Redbubble, and HBO pointed to that site as the point of issue.
Here's HBO's statement (via Entertainment Weekly)
"We love when fans are creative in their support of our programs. These works live online in many incarnations and in the past we have celebrated them by drawing attention to them. Many for-profit websites that sell products, such as Redbubble, take steps to avoid infringements as part of their standard operating procedure. To suggest a particular individual was targeted, or that HBO threatened legal action against her, is simply untrue."
EW further reported that the complaint received by Wilcox shows it was issued by Redbubble, not HBO. Redbubble was apparently just covering its own butt in case HBO decided to come after them. But the details got lost in the shuffle in favor of the idea that HBO might be out there bullying creative teens. Not yet!
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