We’re pretty sure that IDW isn’t pleased that
we’re posting the emails they sent us on the site today, but we feel compelled
to have full transparency on this issue. The Wooster site is

site,
it’s not run by a corporation that protects publishers and brands to the
detriment of the artists. It’s a site that makes no money so that it can be
completely independent. So as we said before, we hope that IDW will drop the
Banksy covers. Unfortunatley that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. To
catch you up, here’s an exchange with IDW’s publisher in it’s entirety:

/>From us:

Chris - Sorry for the caps. Here’s the thing. Why are we angry? We’re angry because you think we are morons. We’re angry because you have taken an artists work, Banksy no less, and stolen from it blatently and then tried to justify it by saying that you want to help his career by giving him exposure on your books. Why would you not ask him about this first? It makes no sense. You run a publishing company. You are smarter than this for sure.

Why do we care? Why are we angry? Because the Wooster site is about the artists not about companies that steal their work. Most street artists have no voice. No representation. No ability to fight back against being ripped off. The Wooster site is that voice. We’re angry because this is not about Banksy to us. It’s about artists getting ripped off with no regard to their worth. I doubt very much that Banksy wants your help in getting him exposure in the US by ripping him off. And if you felt that he did, you would have gotten his approval first. But you didn’t. You didn’t because you know he would have shut you down for using those covers.

Chris - I really think you should reconsider. Sorry for the caps but do the right thing.


——- Original Message——-
From: Chris XXX
To: Wooster Collective
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 4:04 PM
Subject: Re: FW: Re: Smoke covers/Banksy


Do me a favor—make a point without resorting to using ALL CAPS to make it. Just makes you seem irrational.

Since when does an homage require someone signing off on the idea? More to the point, what the hell are you so angry about?


On Tuesday, November 9, 2004, at 01:01 PM, Wooster Collective wrote:


Chris - Are you really serious?? Do you think that we and the tens of thousands of artists and art fans out there would agree wiht any of the logic you are using.

PLEASE PLEASE RECONSIDER USING THOSE COVERS. Or even better…

GET BANKSY’S APPROVAL.

Marc



——- Original Message——-
From: Chris XXX
To: woostercollective@hotmail.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 3:46 PM
Subject: Fwd: FW: Re: Smoke covers/Banksy

Can you tell me why you feel Alex’s explanation is wrong? Banksy is an English street artist. Consequently, most people in America won’t have heard of him or seen his work. But basing covers on his designs and adding a credit and information about him, his work will potentially be seen by a larger American audience. This is wrong?

If a cover for a comic is based on a famous Michelangelo painting or other famous works—and many have been—is that similarly wrong? I’m curious what this angry mindset is all about.

Chris
Editor-in- Chief
IDW Publishing

Begin forwarded message:


From: “Wooster Collective”
To: “Alexandra de Campi”
Subject: Re: Smoke covers/Banksy
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2004 15:29:15 -0500

Alex - I must say that what you did was, to us, indeed lame and wrong. Did you think that Banksy would see the covers in the shop and say - “OH COOL! IDW IS PAYING HOMAGE TO ME!!” Come on. This is Banksy, not some sixteen year old kid.

I will indeed post a follow-up to the post this morning. If you do indeed decide to drop the covers please let me know so I can put that on the site.

Marc


——- Original Message——- From: “Alexandra de Campi”
To:
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 3:23 PM
Subject: Re: Smoke covers/Banksy


Marc

We didn’t contact Banksy - we didn’t think it was necessary for a credited homage.

And (Spencer forwarded on your email) we’re not trying to justify ourselves “in the lamest way possible”. In our silly way, we thought hey, we love Banksy, let’s do an homage to him for a couple of our covers and maybe see if we can get some comic fans into his stuff.

The way comics covers work is they release the underlying image, then in a month or two IDW releases the proper version, with their logo, our logo, our names, credits, etc.

A

From: “Wooster Collective”
To: “Alexandra de Campi”
Subject: Re: Smoke covers/Banksy
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2004 15:11:47 -0500

Alex - Thanks for the email. One quick question - Did you have a dialogue with Banksy about this? Does he know your approach? Please let me know asap so I can clarify this with.

Marc
——- Original Message——- From: “Alexandra de Campi”
To:
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 2:49 PM
Subject: Smoke covers/Banksy


Hi there

Today you posted a piece on how the covers of a series I write, SMOKE, are based on two Banksy images.

Both Igor Kordey (the artist on the series) and I love Banksy, and we would never use any artist’s image in any way without proper credit. Those covers will be credited, ON THE COVER, as “After Banksy”, and we have a line on page 1 of the comic directing people to Banksy’s website for more information on him. We never intended otherwise.

The covers you have are early, “solicitation” covers, with no text or other cover furniture (our names, the series logo, the IDW logo, etc) and so naturally the credit would not appear in the early version you have.

You have my solemn assurance, however, that the images will be credited as I say. I just wish someone had contacted us first to talk about this, rather than assuming we’d just rip and skip. Artists are artists and their work has to be respected, whether it be painted on sidewalks or on canvases in the Louvre. We ain’t that kind of people - and I’d appreciate it if you could put a note to that effect on your writeup on the site, saying the images will be properly credited.

Kind regards

Alex de Campi
http://www.alexdecampi.com

/>Finally, we just received this email from Alex:

No
plans to drop the covers, sorry. As I say, they will be properly credited on the
cover as After Banksy, and we’ll put information in the comic on where to go to
see more of Banksy’s stuff.

And finally this from
Chris:

This isn’t even worth responding to. First of all, we’re
“morons” for receiving covers we didn’t know were inspired by an underground
English artist? Riiiight.

Until today, I hadn’t even
heard of Banksy, so for you to say we knew he’d shut us down if we asked about
emulating his work is ludicrous. I know sites like yours—they have a vested
interest in being angry and posturing and acting like the corporations are out
to screw the little guy. That’s how you get off, thinking that it’s “you against
the world.” That isn’t the case here, but nothing I say is going to convince you
otherwise. So fine, go be angry.