Canada PoliticsBank of Canada tries to kill the ‘Duffybuck’
You can file this story under WTF?
The Bank of Canada has actually written a letter to a political cartoonist asking him to delete an illustration of a $90,000 bill featuring Senator Mike Duffy's mug and a picture prime minister's former Chief of Staff Nigel Wright. (see above)
The picture, of course, is a witty take on Wright personally funding Duffy’s repayment of $90,000 in improperly-claimed living expenses.
[ Related: CTV reporter chases PM’s former chief of staff Nigel Wright during early morning jog ]
According to the Victoria Times-Columnist, Dan Murphy's cartoon from last week — which was also featured at Yahoo! Canada News — has raised the ire of the some under-worked bureaucrat at at the BoC.
You have to get permission before reproducing a bank note image, the letter said, and Murphy didn’t ask.
“Moreover,” it continued, “the bank will not approve requests where the reproduction tarnishes or diminishes the importance of currency to Canadians.”
Sure, Murphy included the words: "Bank of Canada" in his illustration but it's a cartoon for heavens sake.
"Tarnishes or diminishes the importance of currency to Canadians?" Are you kidding me?
[ More Political Points: Justin Trudeau appears in clothing advertisement without his permission ]
Regardless, here are the official Bank of Canada rules on reproduction of Bank Note images:
For advertisers and other commercial users, our Policy on the Reproduction of Bank Note Images must be respected, and you must obtain the Bank’s written permission. To do so, send an email to education@bankofcanada.ca which includes the following information:
1. Your name and the name of your organization.
2. Your day-time phone number.
3. Description of the proposed reproduction (size, colour or B&W, total or part of note, denomination, and series of note to be reproduced.)
4. How do you intend to exhibit the reproduction? (Newspaper article, magazine, advertisement, textbook, numismatics publication, web site, etc.)
5. By what date do you need approval?If you have a mock-up of the proposed reproduction available, please attach it to the email (PDF, JPG or PNG format. Maximum size: 10 meg.)
We will normally reply to requests within 2 days.The Bank may, at its sole discretion, consent to the reproduction if there is no risk that the resulting image could be mistaken for a genuine note or misused by counterfeiters. Another key consideration is that the proposed image must not tarnish the dignity and importance of bank notes to Canadians or the reputation of the Bank.
Interestingly, the Bank of Canada letter didn't mention anything about this accompanying Deep Rogue Ram parody video.
(Warning: Video contains coarse language)
Do you think Murphy should be forced to remove the illustration from his website?
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