Comment by jpea
12 years ago
As a 10 year freelancer, doing a ton of agency work, it's not Spike's issue. His production company hired an agency to do ad promotion for a movie he "helped" make. The design guy was star struck and fairly new in the freelance realm and didn't do a proper job with his business logistics.
It sucks, but it's not Spike Lee's issue. It's like blaming Obama for how a vendor screwed some engineer over while setting up the version control system during the build of the ACA site.
The original letter didn't blame Spike, it asked him to intervene. You are definitely correct in the technical sense, but Spike's responses have been extremely tone-deaf. Instead of saying "not my problem" he should have said, "I'll have someone look into it."
I admire Spike Lee's movies, but from public appearances, he's never struck me as the sort of person who gives much of a shit about what anybody but himself thinks of anything.
I have to ask then, what informs his opinions?
No, it's not like that at all.
It's Spike Lee's production company. He directly derives profit from it. He controls it.
The buck stops at the top, as it always does.
Yes, it stops at the top if there's enough public weight behind it. The guy was star struck about the work that could potentially go in his portfolio and was screwed because he didn't lock up contracts ahead of time. His post was a hail Mary since he didn't do pursue due diligence ahead of time. It sucks, especially since it happened to an individual, but he'll grow from this and learn what not to do.
ps: my cynicism isn't typical of midwesterners in the U.S. I've had many learning experiences over the years that are very similar to this. It all helped me become much better at running a business. If I hadn't had those experiences early on, I wouldn't know what to do preemptively now.
If the ACA contractors that Obama's administration chose stole the web design from a freelance designer and then Obama responded with the BS Mr.Lee is spewing, can you imagine the shitstorm that would cause?
Yes, it's bad PR, but it's not Spike Lee's issue. Sure, he could be better at the PR angle, especially for a person in his current position, but considering how he got to his position, I would guess that good PR wasn't his forte.
So, if I hire an agent to handle something, I am not responsible for their conduct? I don't think I agree with that.
So, if I — hypothetically — see Spike Lee driving my stolen car, I should stay quiet because it's not Spike's issue?
I get what you are saying, but it has now become Spike's issue, unless he abides by "All publicity is good publicity, even bad publicity".
Just like many companies drop their sponsorships when their celebrities misbehave. For example Tiger Woods after his affair scandal.
It's very possible the agency is Spike DDB, which was founded by Spike Lee. If so, the buck stops with Spike.
Also possible that the agency is 1124design.com, which has worked on many of Spike's previous films.
He doesn't gain rights to distribute since he was unaware of the infringement. Every poster he stuck out there, every web advert he paid for: possibly liable for damages for it.
Now that he's aware, and appears to be uncaring about the matter while distributing the infringing work further, he may be liable for even more per infringement.
The artist originally came to SL to ask him to handle this, presumably amicably and for "yeah, we'll pay you like we would have had we hired you" type levels. Now that SL is baiting the guy, he may just ignore the ad firm and go straight after SL as well.
That's a BS comparison. Spike is an indie film-maker. The movie posters are a very visible part of the film.
I'd say it's more like the President worrying about a website.