'Vile man': Mother of viral meme star orders Rep. Steve King to stop using her son's image

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

The young, sandy-haired boy wears a self-satisfied expression. His small hand is clenched as if he is in the middle of a triumphant fist pump.



By now, Laney Griner is used to seeing the photo she took of her son in 2007 when he was 11 months old splashed across the Internet or featured in various advertisements. The child’s name is Sam, but for years the world has known him as the popular Internet meme, “Success Kid.”

Last week, Griner discovered her son’s copyrighted image in the last place she ever expected to find it: a campaign fundraising ad for Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). King has repeatedly come under fire for inflammatory remarks and rebuked as racist, anti-Semitic or insulting to minorities. The ad superimposes Sam’s famous face over a blurred picture of the U.S. Capitol alongside all-caps text that reads, “FUND OUR MEMES!!!”

-snip-

Griner, who identifies as “really liberal,” said she never gave permission to King or his staff to use Sam’s likeness, and is working with her legal team to make sure they don’t continue. On Monday, Griner’s attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter, demanding the congressman and his campaign take down the meme from all platforms associated with them and acknowledge the misuse in a public apology, among other requests.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/vile-man-mother-of-viral-meme-star-orders-rep-steve-king-to-stop-using-her-sons-image-in-campaign-ad/ar-BBZoZy0?li=BBnb7Kz

[Thomas Hurt]

1. pestiferous grifters

[Atticus]

2. But---but--- he's a REPUBLICAN! He's ENTITLED! nt

[central scrutinizer]

3. Steve King, Joni Ernst?

Tell me again why Iowa carries so much weight in the political process?

[MontanaMama]

6. Right??

I was saying this exact thing to my husband whose family is from Iowa. He responded, "think of Aunt Leta Mae and you'll know why Iowa is a mess politically". He's right...Aunt Leta Mae and that whole family think Joni Ernst and Steve King hung the moon. Leta is old as dirt...one of these days there will be one less vote for those jerks in Iowa...bless her heart.

[TNNurse]

4. Would love to see an update on this.

Hope she succeeds.

[CaptYossarian]

8. If it's copyrighted as she says it is, she'll win.

The doofus is most likely shocked because as everybody knows, all liberals abort their babies. That's how they act anyway.

[TNNurse]

9. If she gets a judge who has not drunk the Trump Kool-Aid.

[Ms. Toad]

10. It IS copyrighted. The only quesiton is whether she owns the copyright or someone else does

Every recent image is copyrighted. The copyriht is created instantaneously the moment that something creative and reproducible is reduced to a form that can be copied. (i.e. you snap a photo and the image is stored in memory, or on film).

The person taking the photo does not have to do anything special to obtain copyright - it just happens.

So the only quesiton is who snapped the photo - and did they assign the rights away. (There might be secondary rights, as well - such as who ever removed the background.)

[progressoid]

5. Probably King's kids doing this.

He's notorious for over paying his kids to run his campaign and social media.

[keithbvadu2]

7. There should be a law that if someone uses your image/intellectual property without your permission,

There should be a law that if someone uses your image/intellectual property without your permission, then you can use theirs to promote any cause you wish.

Reciprocity.