Comment by Wyboth on 09/02/2014 at 01:02 UTC

-13 upvotes, 5 direct replies (showing 5)

View submission: The history of the /r/xkcd kerfuffle.

Because it's their intellectual property, and in the case of /r/xkcd, 45,000 of his fans are on the subreddit. It wouldn't be the discussion he'd be controlling. He'd have the right to stop the misrepresentation of his work by the current mods. I don't see a reason why artists shouldn't be allowed control of a subreddit about their work.

Replies

Comment by ryzellon at 09/02/2014 at 07:19 UTC

24 upvotes, 0 direct replies

It's noble for you to try and protect the integrity of the artist, but you have no objective footing--that's not how IP law works. Copyright has a moral rights aspect, but (1) it's pretty weak in the US despite the Berne Convention, and (2) it's entirely work-centric. The most powerful distillation of moral rights relating to copyright is quite limited as it only applies to visual artists, and only protects the

* right to claim authorship

right to prevent the use of one's name on any work the author did not create
right to prevent use of one's name on any work that has been distorted, mutilated, or modified in a way that would be prejudicial to the author's honor or reputation
right to prevent distortion, mutilation, or modification of a work that would prejudice the author's honor or reputation

Having negative things associated with the work is not within the scope of that moral right. It is, arguably, a moral-in-the-generic-sense violation, but that's highly subjective and not something for the law to judge.

Comment by crackanape at 09/02/2014 at 14:45 UTC

8 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I don't see a reason why artists shouldn't be allowed control of a subreddit about their work.

You're digging yourself a hole with this sub-argument.

For every artist who enjoys free and vibrant discussion, there is one who would prefer that people only say nice things about them. If implemented, your approach would kill an awful lot of currently interesting and engaging subreddits.

Comment by [deleted] at 09/02/2014 at 01:16 UTC*

12 upvotes, 1 direct replies

[deleted]

Comment by MinkOWar at 09/02/2014 at 16:59 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

XKCD has its own forum. This is an independent forum, Randall or any other IP owner has no right to it, and the idea they should be able to take over the sub if they don't like it is stripping it from the community just the same as this squatter mod is hijacking it. Reddit is not here to act as someone's free official forum, they can host that themselves and have all the control they want, IP rights have nothing at all to do with control of an independent discussion site, and I would be very surprised if Randall himself did not have a very similar opinion. He can sign the petition, and spread the word about the issue, and whatever else he can do to get it back *in the community's hands* if he wants, but he can't have any direct say over it.

Comment by syntekz at 09/02/2014 at 12:28 UTC

0 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Yeah, that's not how life works here in the United States...