We\u2019ve talked a good deal in this class about intellectual property and the legality of repurposing old media into new media.\u00a0 We’ve discussed artists like Girl Talk and others who use previous ideas and change them and combine them into a conceptual collage based off existing content.\u00a0 There is plenty of argument over that subject, and each side has its own merit, but there is also a darker side to this art of remix.\u00a0 What happens if someone decides to take your idea and repurpose it into a something that you fundamentally disagree with?\u00a0 What do you do when you lose control of the public perception of your own ideas?\u00a0 This is the exact scenario that Matt Furie found himself in earlier this year.\u00a0 Most people don\u2019t know who Matt Furie is, but they are probably familiar with his comic book character-turned-meme Pepe the Frog.<\/p>\n
Pepe originated on Myspace in 2005 in Matt Furie\u2019s comic strip Boy\u2019s Club<\/em>.\u00a0 At some point the character took on a life of its own on forums like tumblr and 4chan and at its peak popularity it was one of the most shared memes on the internet. \u00a0Olivia Nuzzi of the Daily Beast describes Pepe as \u201cthe grimiest but most versatile meme of all, was both hero and antihero\u2014a symbol fit for all of life\u2019s ups and downs and the full spectrum of human emotions, as they played out online.\u201d\u00a0 The nature of the meme made it extremely versatile and diverse in terms of what it could mean in any given context.\u00a0 That may be part of what led to the complete loss of control of the idea, but that\u2019s an entirely different discussion.<\/p>\n Beginning late last year and continuing into 2016, alt-right 4chan users started mixing Pepe with Nazi propaganda and white supremacist imagery among other ideologies generally considered unethical or distasteful. \u00a0Most evidence suggests that a good deal these alt-right folk don\u2019t actually believe their own propaganda, but that their \u201cviews\u201d are more of a cynical and satirical political commentary.\u00a0 Regardless of intent, the white supremacist Pepe became a viral sensation online and everyone now saw Pepe as a pro-Trump right wing extremist.\u00a0 The character\u2019s public perception has been permanently tarnished, its meaning completely changed, and there\u2019s nothing its creator can do about it.<\/p>\n Once an idea is public, the creator retains no control over it.\u00a0 It becomes its own entity, completely separate from the person who originally thought of it.\u00a0 Matt Furie found this out the hard way, but his misfortune has created an opportunity for creators of content to remember that they can\u2019t decide what other people do with their ideas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"