You have to remember that there has been hundreds of artistic uses of the famous Queens head from our stamps. The point is that Royal Mail is now a trade name for Consignia, who would only embark on anything if they thought they could make any money out of it. AND, copyright law was set up to protect from imitation, Jimmy's work is not imitating anything it is a reflective piece of art work. I just realised, isn't he Queens image used by Consignia under license? if so they couldn't sue anyway because they're not even the affected party!!!! -----Original Message----- From: orb-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:orb-bounces@mailman.xmission.com]On Behalf Of Metabolic Sent: 05 June 2003 19:46 To: orb@mailman.xmission.com Subject: [Orb] Cauty in the news I receive the Digest so hopefully this isn't redundant: Gas Mask on Queen's Head Prompts Legal Threat Jun 4, 10:32 am ET LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Royal Mail is threatening to sue an art gallery for displaying three prints of Queen Elizabeth wearing a gas mask -- works the artist says he created in response to the war in Iraq. The Royal Mail said the gallery was breaking copyright laws by using a portrait of the queen the mail has used on its postage stamps for over 30 years. "We have been in touch with a gallery and pointed out that this is our intellectual property and we have not given permission for it to be used," a spokesman said. The three prints each show a profile of the queen's head with a gas mask strapped to it. The straps of the mask are tucked under the monarch's crown. The edges of the prints are serrated to make them look like stamps, and they have "1st," "2nd" and "3rd" written on them in reference to the priority system used by the Royal Mail. The prints are in different colors, like stamps. "To the first glance of the eye they do look like stamps, but on closer inspection they're actually nothing like them," said a spokeswoman for the Artrepublic gallery in the southern resort of Brighton. "The queen has different hair, different neckline, different jewelry ... he's basically redrawn the image." The works, entitled "Stamps of Mass Destruction," are the work of James Cauty, former member of 1990s rave band KLF. http://news.excite.com/odd/article/id/123079|oddlyenough|06-04-2003::10:46|reuters.html _______________________________________________ Orb mailing list Orb@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/orb