Green Eggs and Sham

I am a bit of a photographer. It is not unusual for me to take my camera and sit for an hour, searching for the best shot. 

When I return home, I sort through those pictures carefully. Nobody tells me what to keep and what to delete. It is also my choice alone to give away or publish the ones I find most pleasing.

The legal term for what I have created is intellectual property.

Pictures of birds or landscapes are generally not controversial, and what people tend to like or not like is just a matter of personal preference. Photographs that show people can be more challenging. Let’s face it, some people are not particularly photogenic. 

I will not publish shots that show people in a bad light. Furthermore, I respect individuals’ rights not to be photographed at all or to remove shots of them that they find displeasing. There have been times when I have pulled photos for that reason.

In other words, there are two components to my publishing guidelines: my personal intellectual property rights as a photographer and my sensitivity to others who may be affected or offended.

Nobody has ever accused me of being part of a cancel culture for making decisions about my own creations. That would be ludicrous; it is not how intellectual property works.

Last week, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the copyright holder of the Theodor Geisel’s literary catalogue announced that they would no longer be publishing six of his books. They issued this statement. 

Today, on Dr. Seuss’s Birthday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises celebrates reading and also our mission of supporting all children and families with messages of hope, inspiration, inclusion, and friendship.

We are committed to action.  To that end, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, working with a panel of experts, including educators, reviewed our catalog of titles and made the decision last year to cease publication and licensing of the following titles:  And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer.  These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.

Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’s catalog represents and supports all communities and families.

Similar to my photography decisions, Seuss Enterprises did not owe anybody an explanation about the publication of their intellectual property. They did so as a matter of courtesy and sensitivity.

Their decision was not, however, universally embraced. For example, Brian Kilmeade on Fox & Friends opined “The cancel culture is canceling Dr. Seuss.”

Discontinuing publication by the owner of intellectual property is not cancelling, and the owner of a copyright is not a cancel culture. Disagreeing with a copyright holder’s decision is one thing. Grossly misstating the law for your own purposes is quite another. Reasonable people understand the difference and respond accordingly.

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” – Oh, the Places You’ll Go! (1990)