Orwell's heirs pursue those using the number 1984



    Orwell’s most famous anti-utopia “1984” to some extent influenced the development of an entire era, and the influence that the novel had on the minds of readers is completely impossible to evaluate. Orwell went into a better world in 1950, and the rights to his intellectual heritage passed to relatives.

    And the heirs are now actively sending copyright infringement notifications to those who use the number "1984". In particular, such an announcement was received by an Internet radio station selling T-shirts with the indicated number. More specifically, the owner of the 1201 Beyond resource tried to sell these t-shirts .

    When he didn’t have a website yet, he used CafePress to sell such t-shirts. It was not possible to sell a single one, and his "store" went unnoticed until Orwell's heirs paid attention to him. Last week, they sent a notice saying that CafePress no longer allows you to sell T-shirts with this design:



    The notification, in particular, contains information that George Orwell quotes are printed on T-shirts. As you can see, there are no quotes on the T-shirt, except for the ill-fated number. At the same time, copyright on numbers cannot belong to anyone.



    According to the seller of T-shirts, the actions of the heirs are illegal, and Orwell himself would never have approved such actions. CafePress has already removed the pages with the alleged design of t-shirts from the public. Despite the fact that the “defendant” has the right to file an application for review of the complaint, he does not intend to do so.



    Bill Hamilton, representing the interests of Orwell's heirs, believes that they are right. The reason is that current copyright holders of Orwell’s works have not licensed the right to his works. And the sale of T-shirts with reference to the novel "1984" without a proper license is a direct violation of copyright.

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