Less than a week ago, I posted how a group called Free Palestine Printing had co-opted some beloved cartoon characters for anti-Israel products, in what seemed to be a breach of copyright. This was based on a tip-off by my friend Harriet, who had been alerted to Free Palestine Printing by my earlier post about their GoFundMe.
I informed Warner Bros, BBC Studios, and Mercis about the flagrant copyright violations, as did some of you. And the effort has paid off, with BBC Studios forcing Free Palestine Printing to remove the Bluey product.
A kids’ T-shirt showing the Bluey cast wearing Palestinian scarfs has been taken down from an online marketplace after the commercial owners of the children’s show said it was a counterfeit product, and criticised the “unauthorised use” of the Australian children’s character.
A leading civil rights group fighting anti-Semitism claimed the print “exploited a much-loved Australian children’s icon” for a “warped … cause”.
The “Freedom Fighter Bluey” T-shirt, created by Australian volunteer organisation Free Palestine Printing, showed the children’s character Bluey and his friends wearing keffiyeh, and holding Palestinian flags with a banner that reads “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”.
“This is an unlicensed seller, and counterfeit product,” a BBC Studios spokesman said, before the product was taken down on Monday afternoon.
While the ABC has the Australian broadcast rights to Bluey, which was originally developed by the public broadcaster, the BBC owns the global commercial and broadcast rights to the children’s show.
All the proceeds of sales from Free Palestine Printing products “go to supporting Palestine”, the website states.
The T-shirt was made in both kids and adult sizes, unlike other shirts sold on the website, with Chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission Dvir Abramovich saying it was “weaponising” kids to spread a “hateful agenda”.
“These agents of division are corrupting our children’s hearts and minds and are exploiting a much-loved Australian children’s icon that represents kindness, fun and innocence, for their warped, ugly cause,” he said.
Free Palestine Printing was contacted for comment.
No doubt, the Anti-Defamation Commission getting involved helped achieve this result, since they were able to contact the BBC Licensing Executive directly.
Meanwhile, Free Palestine Printing are still co-opting the Powder Puff Girls and Miffy, so I guess they haven’t received the calls from Warner Bros and Mercis yet. Either way, this result shows how we can make a real-world difference.
