Short version: Wikipedia reproduced images of Bernie Sanders’ Presidential campaign logos and other promotional materials as part of its Wikipedia page about Bernie Sanders.  In response, the Bernie Sanders campaign sent Wikipedia a DMCA takedown notice demanding that Wikipedia remove those images.  This is because the Bernie Sanders campaign considers such use to be a violation of copyright. The Sanders campaign has since later withdrawn this notice.

Slightly longer version: …well, all of that, of course.  Now add about five or so double-takes, a few confused head-tilts, a couple of instances where you that thing you do when you try to say something, but can’t quite put it into words, and at least one ‘Wait, what?’  This is confusing on so many levels.

First off, as Boing Boing points out: not only is this response from Bernie Sanders almost certainly an incorrect interpretation of copyright law, it is absolutely nonsensical as a political ploy.  Political campaigns WANT their logos to be plastered on every available surface, everywhere, for all time.  When I first saw the title of the article in email, I assumed that Boing Boing was going to tell me how the Sanders campaign was caught adding stuff to Sanders’ Wikipedia page… possibly even,  I don’t know, plastering the whole thing with Sanders’ campaign logo?  Imagine my surprise when it turns out that they wanted to keep the logos away from people’s eyeballs.

Seriously, it is a measure of how awful Hillary Clinton is as a candidate that she’s more or less tied with this guy.  Or, arguably, losing to him.

Second: since when do Commies – oh, I’m sorry: “Democratic socialists” – care about copyright, anyway?  It all belongs to the People, right?  Bernie Sanders supports public financing of elections, yes? So why does he suddenly think that he has the right to dictate what other people do with that logo? Ownership is theft, man.  Bernie Sanders shouldn’t act so blatantly privileged, you know what I mean?

Third and lastly: it’s nice that Bernie Sanders apparently managed to pull that takedown notice in a fashion that managed to avoid any indication that the campaign was sorry that the whole thing happened, and that the campaign happened to be rude to a bunch of tech-minded people for no particular reason.  No, really, it is nice.  I’m a partisan Republican hack, remember? I love it when my political opponents take the time to act like jerks to groups that might be inclined to support them.

Moe Lane

PS: Hey, you know how the Left likes the idea of more government?  Well, you know what the DMCA is?  That’s right: more government.