Yet another (false) cry about visual plagiarism
Oh, brother, am I getting tired of this subject…
On the left is last month’s issue of The New Republic. On the right, the new issue of Time magazine:
Naturally, the editors at The New Republic got all snotty about it:
We don’t want to say that this week’s cover of Time is a rip-off of our HillarAck cover that came out last month, but–oh, whatever–they totally ripped us off! All the way on down to the cover line, too: “There Can Only Be One” vs. “We Have To Choose One.”
Now, see here. Composite faces are nothing new. They’ve been around for years. And that headline? Ever heard of a little movie/TV show called The Highlander?
But then along comes Mixed Media columnist Jeff Bercovici of Condé Nast Portolio to set everyone straight:
Time’s managing editor, Rick Stengel, says TNR has no cause for complaint:
If those wonderfully wonky folks at TNR (and I used to be one of them) watched a little more of the NBA, they would realize that the inspiration for this week’s cover was the striking ad campaign the NBA is using for the playoffs.
In fact, we say so on the magazine’s index page. And in what is certainly a first, the NBA is doing a little cross-promotion with us on the cover.
The New Republic’s editors responded by updating their blog post:
UPDATE: Time’s cover is derivative (not just of us).
As someone commented at Portfolio:
Just give it a rest, guys.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:00 am
I’ve been following the NBA playoffs closely, so the first thing that came to mind when I saw TIME’s cover were those commercials. I wouldn’t have even connected the TIME cover to TNR’s.
Those commercials still kind of scare me, by the way. Especially the Shaq/Kobe one.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:29 am
AAAAAHHHHHH!!! WHAT IS THAT????!!!!
April 25th, 2008 at 10:41 am
The Highlander tag line is actually: “There can be only one” and not “There only can only be one”
Now, that construction may seem a small detail when reading the text in this comment - but the difference is very apparent when spoken aloud. (Preferably with a Scottish brogue.)
Clear your throat and say it with me. “There can be only one”
Aye, lad. There ya be.
And for the visuals copycat claim: Inspiration is not duplication.
Get over yourself.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Heh. That reminds me of one of the most famous split infinitives in entertainment history:
.
“To boldly go where no man has gone before.”
April 26th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
i commented over on portfolio.com:
splitting a face down the middle isn’t new. but who’s copying who? the new republic’s photoshop composite reminded me of this…
time - the new face of america, nov. 18, 1993
http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19931118,00.html