Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Craig I totally understand where your coming from, and I would have to say Yes, it does matter on a moral standard, at least for me. There`s always going to be some jerk trying to make a buck, however I think there still needs to be a level of moral standards. Last christmas over in the UK a company started selling pole dance kits for children, that TOTALLY brakes the boundries of moral products that we should be thinking of selling. Thankfully it never really made it to full production but it illustrates my point. I guess my point here is that just because you could sell something doesn`t mean you should.

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He who gets greedy like a pig, gets slaughtered like a hog!

The whole thing appears to be really murky territory, guess the best answer is "it depends" :-)

In The Right of Publicity v. The First Amendment  they have a pretty good condensed version of what it depends on. It appears that if the doll, figure, depiction etc. is distorted and part of creation then it doesn`t matter. But if it can be proved that using somebody`s likeness resulted in a financial loss for him/her then you are liable.

From the above link


From the Bobblehead case doll


So from this I gather that if the likeness is part of the work then it doesn`t matter, if it is used to promote an item that is not part of the work then it does. However if it is part of the work of art and it can be proved that it caused a monetary loss to the individual it does. I would assume that if in this case Britney can prove that she intends to license a doll of herself in this fashion then she has a case because the sales this man made could`ve been royalties for her.

Guess it is one of those things, it depends.

A few years ago, watching "The West Wing," (back when it was interesting), an episode questionned the concept of "absolute good." It was about the fundamental concept of morality, and if there can be an absolute (objective) morality.

Given the time in my life, it caught my attention. A morality is basically the set of rules we put together by which we`ll live life. To have rules, we have to have a mind to think of rules. To list them requires a language by which to make that list. And to use the morality requires having a life during which to apply the rules.

Everyone has their own life, therefore everyone will formulate their own rules. One issue is if everyone will "reinvent the wheel" and try to formulate every single rule they`ll ever use, that will ever apply to their own life. To save time, we can borrow some useful rules that worked for people in the past.

But it`s only to save time. No "borrowed" morality should ever substitute for personal thinking and personal choice as to what kind of life we want to live.

The only absolutely moral "good" is that The Good is that which is life enhancing. ANY person or society who subscribes to any other definition of "good" will move toward death, after which point their thinking becomes moot.

Beyond that, each of us must have a concept of "quality of life." And that`s where all kinds of vague, nondescript problems start so creep into the mix.

Todd, the question isn`t whether or not "other" people have or haven`t gone too far. The question is how YOU choose to evaluate and respond to the introduction of the doll. This isn`t in any way an argument in favor of moral relativism! It`s an argument about the quality of YOUR life, and after that, the quality of life for those close to you. Finally, it`s about Britney`s quality of life, which you can`t affect.

Morality has become a subject of satire, attack, and parody in today`s world. It`s mostly due to the elite intelligentsia and their "oh-so-cool" attitude over nonchalance. They believed that morality is an etched-in-stone event, which can`t be broken, lost, torn down, or removed. They`re wrong.

To keep up the never-ending shock value and satire, we have to continually find lower and lower things to make fun of, cheaper and sleazier topics to shock with, and more disgusting things to laugh about. The same thing happened during the last phase of the Roman Empire.

On a psychological level, never underestimate the power of being able to say, "No matter how f**ked up my life is, at least it`s not as bad as THAT!"

I`ll propose that a useful rule is to examine what it is that passes for acceptable in any society. Come up one step from that, and you`ll find the average state of mind for the remaining members of that society.

This doll represents the awesome level of pain, fear, suffering, and panic taking place on a society-wide level in our "enlightened" modern society. As we continue on the crash path, we`ll see increasingly ugly things. What`s tragic is the number of people who`ll shrug it off, saying that "people have complained about things forever. It`s not any worse than what`s happened before."

That`s true. The WWII prison camps and deaths aren`t any worse than the Crusades or any other catastrophic event in history. It`s because they were the worst. That`s the end of the line. There isn`t anything "worst-er." We`ll have to reach that point, I think, for people to wonder whether or not morality matters or if it`s just a bunch of dumb words that have little to do with reality.

Here in the USA, if it sells, that`s all that matters ... right?

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Scott Watson.::.

Acme Data Online Backup Service     

Don`t Wait Until It Is Too Late To Recover Your Data

For some people, not all people. In fact, I would argue that the reason people are leaving corporate jobs in a steady flow is they disagree with the above.

CraigL -

With all due respect ... the steady flow of people leaving their jobs is because those jobs are going to India, Mexico and China ...

The ones that don`t have the resources (money, a great idea, burning desire, etc.) are taking jobs in the McService sector.

I had an idea for a Trailer Trash Barbie many years ago, along with a Ken sporting a mullet and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off.  Poor taste?  Possibly.  The movie Joe Dirt didn`t do too bad though.  it is a "cult" classic.


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Scott Watson.::.

Acme Data Online Backup Service     

Don`t Wait Until It Is Too Late To Recover Your Data

I agree that many people are being forced out of their jobs, due to the above. But there`s a huge and growing movement of people choosing to leave. Call it the "slow track," or the "mommy track," but it`s a worrisome problem.

There`s a growing skills shortage, and a "skills gap," and HR departments are trying to come up with ways to halt the problem. Today`s Gen-Y kids have no work ethic or loyalty, and could care less about staying in a job. They need to be told what to do, and require supervision.

The Baby Boomers tend to be less technologically savvy, but they hold the company together in many ways. Yet they`re being tossed out due to age and insurance liability. It`s gone on long enough that "suddenly" HR departments are starting to realize they don`t have anyone left to run things.

But it was because of all those "whitecaps" being tossed, that they took their skills, expertise, and historical context with them to form consulting firms. And now they`re being paid multiples of what they used to get paid, to offer back to their own companies the same knowledge.

Now, however, they can afford to take into consideration their quality of life, and strange things like "ethics" in business. It`s not to say that there still isn`t a huge market for trash, just that there`s a growing market for something else.

And here it is!

- J.




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Jeff Fisher | Jeff Fisher LogoMotives | Tweet! Tweet!

That rocks!

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Travis Tschepen
Hibachi Bros. LLC

--My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.--

Oh gawd!  That is hilarious!

 

Thanks Jeff!

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Scott Watson.::.

Acme Data Online Backup Service     

Don`t Wait Until It Is Too Late To Recover Your Data