No more FTG4 t-shirts and mugs

CafePress.com has informed me that my FTG4 design is in violation of their Content Usage Policy (aka CUP — surprisingly, this catchy acronym hasn't spread like wildfire). I quote them here:

We recently learned that your CafePress.com account contains material which may not be in compliance with our policies. Specifically, designing, manufacturing, marketing and/or selling products that may infringe the rights of a third party, including, copyrights (e.g., an image of a television cartoon character), trademarks (e.g., the logo of a company), "rights in gross" (e.g., the exclusive right of the U.S. Olympic Committee to use the "Olympic Rings"), and rights of privacy and publicity (e.g., a photo of a celebrity) are prohibited.

Now if I were a more combative type, I might try and argue the point with them. After all, while the FTG4 design is based on a copyrighted photograph, I believe it's sufficiently "interpreted" to qualify as fair use and is therefore a First Amendment–protected expression of artistic and social commentary. But hey, they have a business to run, and if they want to reserve the right to refuse service on the basis of a possible lawsuit, I'll let it slide for now.

I'll try to come up with a less-infringing but no less compelling image to put on t-shirts and mugs. In the meantime, you can still download posters from the links on the right.

Some obvious advice for blog visitors

Blog veterans out there will no doubt cluck their tongues at my ignorance, but in an effort to publicize this blog, I've searched for other blogs referring to the G4 and posted comments with a link to this blog if I was able to do so.

However, I also included an undisguised email address when asked. Whoops...I've since been deluged with literally thousands of junk mails as spammers have taken my personal domain name and used it to generate a flood of spams to other domains. Of course, when those domains kick back error messages, they all come back to me as if I sent them. It's taken some serious tweaking of my ISP's content filters to effectively deal with the deluge.

Lesson learned: No email addresses in blog comments!

A quick update

Thanks to everyone who's posted comments here — both positive and negative. I will endeavor to answer many if not all comments sometime soon.

Angry Asian Man joins the cause

The Gwenihana Four make the pages of Angry Asian Man's blog. As it was AAM who first brought the G4's plight to our attention, we're happy to have his support.

Welcome...

This is a blog to promote awareness of the "Gwenihana Four," the four pseudo-harajuku girls currently serving an unspecified term in the custody of pop singer Gwen Stefani. Please consider buying a t-shirt to show your support for the cause. For freedom!