Subject:
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Re: Brick Testament image used on LEGO.com?!
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.fun
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Date:
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Wed, 30 Jan 2008 03:40:30 GMT
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Viewed:
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11815 times
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In lugnet.lego, Brendan Powell Smith wrote:
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Warning: this post contains language concerning and links to LEGO depictions
of materials that some may consider offensive and/or inappropriate for
children.
A fan of The Brick Testament alerted me via
e-mail last night to the apparent use of an image from The Brick Testament on
the official LEGO website. He couldn’t positively identify the illustration,
but noted that it looked a lot like my style. What was most confusing and
confounding was that this image seems to be an illustration one of the
Bible’s several mass circumcision scenes! And that it is being used on a
part of the LEGO website that gives advice to parents of young LEGO fans, in
this instance concerning “General Party Tips” for throwing a great
LEGO-themed birthday party.
I quickly followed
the link (in
case the image has been removed by now, here’s a
screen
capture of how the image was being used) and immediately recognized the
image as indeed being from The Brick Testament, though I couldn’t immediately
recognize which specific story it was from. Seeing that line-up of male
minifigs depositing round yellow 1x1 plates into a barrel had me almost
certain that it would indeed turn out to be from a mass circumcision story.
Looking through the archives, it does bear strong resemblance to
this illustration from Genesis, and
this illustration from Joshua, and
this illustration from King David.
But eventually I recognized my minifig depiction of Gideon and was able to
track down the
original image on my site. So as it turns out, the image on
parents.lego.com does not portray freshly hacked-off foreskins being dropped
into a barrel, but rather golden earrings taken as booty after 120,000
Midianites were killed by the Israelites. These stolen earrings are about to
be used to create a golden idol which the Israelites will proceed to
“prostitute themselves” to.
While it is less significantly less disturbing an image to appear on
parents.lego.com (under the “party suggestions” heading, no less) when those
round yellow 1x1 plates are recognized as not intended to represent shorn
foreskins, it should be noted that this image is taken from a particularly
depraved Bible story in which the “hero” Gideon takes two prisoners of war
and commands his young boy of a son to publicly execute them. When the boy
is too scared to do so, Gideon executes them himself in one of the
more memorable Biblical execution scenes so far illustrated in The Brick
Testament:
So the question remains: How on earth did this photo end up being used used
as a promotion photo on the official LEGO website? I can only imagine it was
a mistake of some sort. For, if it was intentional, it would have to mean
that either:
1. It was a prank. A LEGO.com web designer was seeing what she could get
away with.
or more insidiously:
2. LEGO believes it has the right to use any images of its product in a
promotional context, no matter who build the LEGO construction or who took
the photo.
But since it is almost certainly neither of the above, I can’t help but have
a great curiosity how this happened. Did a LEGO web designer mistake my
image for one that belongs to LEGO? Is that image from The Brick Testament
(and possibly others) in some database of images that LEGO web designers can
draw from? If so, how did that happen?
Part of me is tempted to refrain from bringing this matter to LEGO’s
attention, since it mostly strikes me as a humorous and harmless mistake, and
there’s a certain honor in having a Brick Testament image used in a positive
way on the official LEGO website.
I could even use the gaff to playfully mock LEGO’s sometimes overactive legal
deptartment by sending them an official cease-and-desist letter. But in the
end it seems most prudent to respectfully inform LEGO of the mistake and
stick up for my own copyright on the image.
It’s not always easy to figure out how to contact people (or the right
people) at LEGO, though, so I have both sent in a letter through their
website’s Customer Service form and also posted here on the chance that
someone at LEGO might read it and pass it on to the appropriate department.
Of course, if this matter actually gets investigated (which I’m almost
certain it won’t), I’d love to hear how this happened! :)
-Brendan Powell Smith
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A long time ago, in a different far far away galaxy, I had a run in with the
Lego legal department. I was buying an old store model on ebay and got an
e-mail from one of their lawyers. She said Lego wanted the model back that I was
high bidder on. I sort of chuckled and then answered her saying No Way. I sent
my phone number and she called me and said that Lego owned the property and it
was illegally sold and if I was such a fan of Lego I would want to return it. I
answered by saying that I am a big fan and wanted to save it as Lego destroyes
its old displays. She mumbled something and hung up. I called Lego’s customer
service and was passed around a bit and finally talked to someone rather high up
in the pecking order. This person was very accomadating and after I told my
story he told me not to worry; they did not want it back and would talk to the
legal department and the woman I talked to in particular. Never heard another
word, except I did receive a letter of apology from lego. That is my story of
my run in with the Lego legal department. John P
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Brick Testament image used on LEGO.com?!
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| (...) That's...really odd. I know I'm not alone in this, but they actually sent me a display item several years ago (the 6' tall cardboard Tahu standee). I've also had a local LEGO rep offer to hook me up with one of the gigantic "lifesize" Pakari (...) (16 years ago, 30-Jan-08, to lugnet.fun, FTX)
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