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Miffed by Miffy

RLF | 22.06.2007 14:34 | Bio-technology | Culture | Ecology | History | Repression

I don't know how it came about but the Miffy rabbit character has for a long time been associated with the EarthFirst! movement and radical ecological direct action. But do the creators and copyright owners of the character know or approve of Miffy's political activities?...

Miffy joins the monkey wrench gang
Miffy joins the monkey wrench gang

Miffy dig for victory
Miffy dig for victory

Miffy enjoys a EF! summer gathering
Miffy enjoys a EF! summer gathering

Miffy at the seaside for another EF! get together
Miffy at the seaside for another EF! get together

Miffy against patents (and copyright) on Life
Miffy against patents (and copyright) on Life

Miffy off for a round of golf at the 2005, G8 summit in Scotland
Miffy off for a round of golf at the 2005, G8 summit in Scotland


Miffy is a picture book character created by Dick Bruna in 1955, after telling his one-year-old son Sierk stories about a rabbit they had seen on holiday. Miffy now features in about 30 titles which have been translated into 40 different languages, selling over 80 million copies all over the world.

Drawn in a very minimalist style, Miffy requires only a few lines and one or two primary colors drawn in two dimensions to be recognisable. Perhaps this, and the sense of air of innocence over mischief explains why she become involved in ecological direct action.

It's unclear exactly when exactly it began but you can trace her political activities, in this country at least, back to the early 90's and the anti-roads movement. Seen coyly holding a spanner behind her back, one could only imagine the trail of monkey wrenching she left behind her in her efforts to defend the fields, woodland and hedgerows she loved.

By the late nineties, with the roads building program in retreat, Miffy joined the growing anti GM movement, taking up a spade to join the resistance. More recently, Miffy joined her fellow protesters for a game of golf up in Scotland during the 2005 G8 summit and who know, perhaps she also took part in the blockades in Heiligendamm this year.

At over fifty years old you'd think that Miffy would be her own person, free to express her political beliefs as she sees fit but sadly it appears not. The copyright owners of all Dick Bruna's character constantly hunt down unlicensed users of her image in order to defend their profitable merchandising business.

While Miffy was created for a children's book, the design has been capitalised on to sell numerous other products like clothes, stationery, toys, glasses, household items etc. A search for Miffy products on google brings up over 100,000 pages and no doubt many of the products sold are unlicensed copies made in far eastern sweat shops.

However, Mercis, the Dutch company that owns the copyright, are not content to simply take action on those producing 'fake' merchandise, they appears to have stumbled on Miffy's radical secret life and they are not amused. They are deeply offended, ironically, by Miffys involvement in the campaign against patents on life, as depicted in sticker produced many years ago promoting the (long dead), www.resistanceisfertile.com website - copies of which can now only be found in resource archives of the (no longer maintained) Totnes Against Genetics (ToGG) website.

Mercis (www.mercis.nl) have unleashed their legal team to threaten expensive legal action against whoever might be held accountable - the inactive Totnes Genetics Group who's long unmaintained website sill contains a picture of that Miffy sticker.

While ToGG volunteers try to get long forgotten passwords and access from the internet service provider which hosts the website in order to remove the offending image, more important questions have been raised. Will Miffy tolerate this attack on her freedom of expression and will her friends in the movement stand idly by and watch as her freedom to protest is taken away?


RLF

Additions

Culture is a process of cooption

22.06.2007 15:00


Here is another picture of Miffy which certainly is licensed. I don't know what it's meant to mean but this stencil was photographed on a wall in Bethnal Green, East London.

miffed too
- Homepage: http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/graffiti/graffiti_stencil_miffy.htm


so maybe we should...

22.06.2007 16:50

not the first time with EF! Miffy that they've done this - first trick of the trade - don't call your image miffy.jpg or variations on that

love n rage n no copyright

repost it everywhere


here's another one

22.06.2007 17:00


nowt else to day

for this year's gathering in July in Norfolk


yes, she was there

22.06.2007 17:35

I'm sure I seen her in the Reddelich camp site at the German G8. She gets around. Keep it Miffy!

Miffy spotter


spotted in Australia

22.06.2007 23:05

saw her travelling on an activist's suitcase a few years back in Australia - she gets about, her and her politics!

by me


Correction,

22.06.2007 23:59

This is not the same rabbit, and therefore cannot be copyrighted,
As we all know rabbits only live a few years, Miffy has long passed away, these are just other rabbits that look a lot like her, not the same rabbit.
More than one of them is called miffy, but it doesn't matter, they are different, and I would like to see a court trying to dispute it, the original image might be copyrighted, but if you look closely you can spot loads of differences, in the line style, in the position of the eyes, the nose, the ears and the cloths, unless they copyrighted a circle with an X and two dotts, they don't have a legal standing (I think).
But who cares, even if they did, you could add another line in the nose, or a circle in the middle of it, the image is too simple to claim, and would still be recogniseable with little modification

Rabbit gang


Britain's Chief Miffy Hunter

23.06.2007 12:00

Miffy Media Tart
Miffy Media Tart

The UK contact for the shady organisation currently trying to imprison all of Miffy's children is Alicia Davenport. Drop her a line at  alicia@drilicensing.com, and maybe send her your own drawings of Miffy's children (suitably masked up of course!). They will always be free!

Sheila Pomfrite


Comments

Display the following 9 comments

  1. Bunnys have rights too — miffy club member
  2. in miffy's affinity group — not m
  3. Where the new Miffys come from — rabbit spotter
  4. solidarity — m.i.f.
  5. Indymedia priorities — Brian B
  6. Fun Is Allowed - Just ask Miffy! — Sheila Pomfrite
  7. Reply to Brian B — diversity rules
  8. I do care — Mif
  9. reply to the defender of diversity — Brian B