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PCGS vs Comedy Central: The Conclusion

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I was unprepared for the huge response from readers regarding my article about Comedy Central and Drunk History and their alteration of one of my photos of a 1920 St Gaudens Double Eagle. Within hours I had about 30 emails in my inbox imparting advice, adding their comments, and sneaking in a few jokes here and there.

Almost every comment was supportive, and the vast majority of you felt that I should just settle down, not worry, and enjoy the fact that they used one of my photos to make people laugh. A surprising number of people quoted from Disney’s "Frozen" and told me to "Let It Go". One or two people suggested a more aggressive legal approach: "Burn ’em!" is a direct quote from one of those. A few people on the PCGS message board wanted to contribute some Photoshopped images of their own to be used in retaliation. And some of you pointed out my oddball Canadian spelling of the word meager. I will make more of an effort to comport to US spelling conventions in this follow-up article.

The most impassioned responses I received were from professional photographers, and all of them felt that something needed to be done. All of them had stories to tell me about how their work had been infringed upon or flat out stolen, and they outlined their struggles to get compensation or simply even recognized. All of them insisted that I get in touch directly with Comedy Central through their Copyright Compliance page.

I did send Drunk History and Comedy Central a few more barbs via social media. I sent them a few direct messages. My eCollector article was posted on our PCGS Facebook page, and the article was even posted on a popular Facebook page called "Photo Stealers" which documents the struggles photographers go through when it comes to protecting their work. Still, no response from Comedy Central. It was clear their social media strategists didn't want to engage in the situation in the jovial manner I was hoping they would. So, I sent a polite message to their Copyright Compliance division.

A day after I sent the email I received a response from Adam, Viacom’s Senior Vice President of Litigation and Intellectual Property inviting me to give him a call at my convenience.

When I called Adam he surprised me by revealing to me that he himself was a little bit of a coin collector and had actually heard of PCGS (usually when I tell people I work for Collectors Universe a lot of people assume it’s a Collection Agency). We talked for a while about his little collection of Lincoln cents in Whitman folders, and a little about submitting coins for PCGS grading. But the bulk of the conversation centered around the infamous photo Drunk History had altered. Adam made it clear that the alteration of the photo falls under Transformative Fair Use. I thought that this would most likely be the case since the photo had been so extensively altered, thus transforming the original expression or meaning.

However, and more importantly, I was offered an apology. While they were within their rights under Fair Use to alter the photo, I should not have been made to feel ignored and Comedy Central should have responded sooner. I was satisfied by this, but in a further conciliatory gesture Adam offered me some complimentary "swag" based on some of the quality Comedy Central programming I had said I enjoyed during our amiable conversation.

A week later a large box appeared on my doorstep loaded with goodies: A luxurious Colbert Report sweater and coffee mug, a well-fitting Daily Show hat, and a Mason jar shaped "Drunk History" tumbler with the phrase "Screw This! I need a drink!" emblazoned on it. As you can see from the selfie, it looks like I went wild in the Comedy Central gift shop.

Also enclosed was a hand-written note that reads as follows:

"Dear Mr. Arnold

Thank you again for your good humor. Although, as I explained the use of the photographed is protected under the fair use doctrine, we regret not responding to your inquiry sooner.

We were glad to hear you are a fan of Comedy Central programming. I’m enclosing the "swag" we discussed and hope you enjoy it.

Best regards,

Adam

I thanked Adam for all the "swag" and I’m quite pleased with how things were resolved.

Let this be a valuable lesson to all of you: If you complain to the right people, you might get free stuff.

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