ISSUE 2000 NUMBER 13 | Posted: November 3, 2000 | LAST UPDATE: 04/24/2000

AN OPEN LETTER TO PLAYBOY ENTERPRISES
July 1st, 1997

As a scan collector, and consumer of the many Playboy publications that have appeared over the past 20 years, I write this letter to express both my opinions and concerns regarding the position that Playboy Enterprises Inc. (PEI) has taken toward scan collecting and the practice of posting scanned PEI imagery on WWW scan collector sites.

I submit this letter as a public statement, from a single scan collector, to both PEI and the netscanner community at large.

Let me begin by stating that I was, and still am dismayed at the vigorous copyright enforcement tactics that PEI has employed against netscanner web sites. I was originally a supporter of the 'Boycott Playboy' campaign and voiced that opinion to PEI via e-mail to genes@playboy.com.

After much consideration though, I must now disagree with the 'Boycott Playboy' position taken by the netscanner community. I now agree that PEI has every right to enforce compliance with copyright laws. I realize that PEI has invested a great deal of time and money in the design, production and publication of the images in question. Any business ( PEI included ) has the right to assert control over the use of it's property. Any unauthorized use of that property, should be the target of appropriate enforcement.

The operative term here is 'appropriate'. I believe that if PEI would clearly state the conditions that would serve as appropriate and acceptable use of it's images, the majority of scan site operators would comply.

TO SCAN SITE WEBMASTERS:

I believe PEI realizes that most scan collectors are honest people interested in the images only for the purposes of personal not-for-profit collecting. Keep in mind that PEI has never to my knowledge, had a problem with Playboy magazine collectors trading and/or selling their collections.

We then, must realize what it is that PEI is trying to protect in the first place. Contrary to the current view shared by many collectors, PEI is NOT worried that scan collecting will supplant magazine readership and reduce subscription revenue. That is why this argument, when submitted by scan collectors to PEI, has fallen onto deaf ears. That argument does address the real reason that PEI is taking these actions in the first place.

PEI IS TAKING COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT ACTION DUE TO WHAT IT PERCEIVES AS A DIRECT THREAT TO IT'S CONTROL OF THE PLAYBOY IMAGERY. IN OTHER WORDS, PEI IS ATTEMPTING TO PROTECT THE BUNNY, THE PLAYBOY LOGO, THE 'PLAYMATE' TERM, AND IT'S REPUTATION FOR A DISTINCT AND RECOGNIZABLE STYLE OF PHOTOGRAPHY THAT IT HAS RIGHTLY EARNED.

If we are serious about preventing scan collecting from becoming a truly 'underground' hobby, then I believe that we must convince PEI that scan collecting does not pose a threat to it's corporate imagery. Threats of boycotts, nasty email etc. will do nothing but convince PEI that the world of scan collecting is by and large, populated with individuals that will not respect it's intellectual property.

Website operators can start showing PEI good faith, by;

• DROPPING THE 'BOYCOTT PLAYBOY' BANNERS FROM WEBSITES. encourage the use of Playboy's web site, publications and other products.

• Subscribe to the magazine. It fits under your bed much easier than a computer.

• Report PEI images appearing on PAY SITES.

• Discourage the practice of pressing netscanner CD-ROMs for purposes other than personal archive.

• DO NOT AUTOMATE YOUR TRADING ACTIVITIES. Scan sites should not be the agents of mass distribution. This is where the folks at 'The Collector's Index' got into trouble. They setup an automated mail server for the distribution of requested scans. That practice smacks of a 'business'. PEI could not tolerate that.

Let's make an honest, good faith attempt to show PEI how we feel toward their property. We have nothing to loose. They are WINNING and have the ability to severely curtail any significant netscanner activity on the WWW.

MY APPEAL TO PEI.

I believe that if PEI developed a set of 'ACCEPTABLE USE GUIDELINES', regarding the proper use and display of PEI material on web sites, Webmasters would gladly comply. In my estimates, PEI is probably spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to fund it's current copyright enforcement practices (lawyers are not cheap). Why not publish some simple rules. If these rules are not followed, then the offending site gets 'the letter' and is shut down - like it would have been anyway.

Below is my view (perhaps naive) on what these guidelines might look like ;

• Netscanner web sites MUST acknowledge the PEI copyrights held on the images contained within the site.

• A banner linking to PLAYBOY'S SITE should be displayed on every netscanner site. This banner should be either produced and/or approved by PEI.

• Netscanner sites should be structured as tributes to the work of Playboy, past and/or present, as model fan appreciation sites or as collector information sites (like this one).

• Webmasters must state that the images posted are for the purpose of not-for-profit collecting only.

• PAY SITES SHOULD ALWAYS BE PROHIBITED FROM USING PEI IMAGES. PEI should vigorously enforce image copyrights on all PAY sites. (This is a sore point for me since I have seen PEI images exist on pay sites long after PEI has succeeded in shutting down small, private collector sites.)

• No portion of a netscanner is to be used as part of any commercial web site for embellishing artwork.

• The use of 'PLAYBOY', 'PLAYMATE', the BUNNY, etc. in logos, wallpaper, watermarks, etc. will not be allowed.

• Titles of Playboy publications (i.e. "Wet & Wild Women" , "Book of Lingerie", "Girls of Summer" etc.) cannot be used in web site titles or for site promotional purposes.

• Netscanner sites should not be sponsored. This would keep the sites relatively small since sponsorship is usually needed for sites with heavy diskspace and bandwidth usage. (this one may be a sticky point with some, but I think it is the single best way to prove to that we are not 'in business')

• Netscanner sites cannot mention the availability of copyrighted images on CD-ROMs.

I am more than willing to follow any acceptable use guidelines that PEI sets forth.

Furthermore, I believe that embracing netscanners would serve as great PR for Playboy Enterprises. Netscanners and the fan sites that use them, have played a large part in increasing the 'regognition' factor of a number of Playboy models (Lisa Boyle, Patricia Ford, Jenny McCarthy, Stacy Sanchez, and Neriah Davis among others).

In closing, I believe that the netscanner community can exist, and indeed prosper, on the Internet, within a set of common sense boundaries set forth by PEI.

 

Respectfully submitted;
Tom Henthorn