About a year ago I got digital cable at home. One of the things I liked the most was having Teletoon, but mostly Teletoon Retro. About that time, Stéphanie also shared a Webcomic she'd been reading for a few months called Least I Could Do.
If you're somewhat close to me, you know that one of my biggest pet-peeve is Intellectual Property (IP) Theft. Being a musician, designer (Web, graphic, and multimedia) and photographer, I am very sensitive to the issue. This is where everything turns to shit...
This is not really a case of plagiarism, but a case of potential Intellectual Property (IP) theft.
Not only IP Theft gets me riled up, but it pisses me off more when the alleged/potential offending party attempt to stifle any source, media, publication that don't take their side. The Claude Robinson case anyone? In this case, from denial of the existence of the dispute on Wikipedia to denial of responsability (Sohmer's response)... this case alone could almost be it's own show.
Just to be clear, Teletoon doesn't produce shows themselves... but they have partners. Teletoon holds a broadcasting entity and a production partnership entity. If this was not true, (1) Teletoon wouldn't be able to own the Intellectual Property of the shows that are Teletoon Original Productions; and (2) Teletoon, the broadcasting entity, would not have had in their possession the Bible and Character Sheets of "The Dating Guy" from marblemedia.
For this, I have officially stopped watching Teletoon (English and French) and Teletoon Retro. I cannot go against my professional and artistic integrity and conscience. If Teletoon is legally non-responsible (since they are a "broadcaster"), their hands are still dirty in my eyes for not looking further than their hands can see (Nota bene: There are currently no legal actions being taken on either side as far as the public knows. But, the official status of parties similar cases is only defined in its legal sense). It's just fuzzy to me that every detail Teletoon wanted changed when Sohmer met with them ended up in marblemedia's show...
If you're like me and disturbed by the story, there's a Kickstarter Project that has been created for Ryan, Lars and Randall to at least get a pilot. The project has already reached 75% of its goal within a week. Suffice to say that it will never air on Teletoon (lol), but at least a non-bastardized version of the Least I Could Do IP would have a pilot of its own.
Disclaimer: In no way in this blog post am I accusing anyone of a crime. This is my point-of-view based on the information posted by both parties around the Internet, the actions taken by both parties to support or deny anything in the case; my opinion based on the visual similarities between both Intellectual Properties (IP), and my take on the case based on my personal and professional experience.
Both Intellectual Properties are owned by their respective owners. I claim no ownership of the image posted. The posted image's purpose is solely used as an illustration of the similarities between the two IP entities involved in this story.
