George Orwell’s Estate Dishes Out Copyright Takedowns on 1984 Merchandise

In a stunning display of irony, the estate of George Orwell has begun issuing copyright takedown notices to artists and businesses who they feel “improperly use” the number “1984.” According to TorrentFreak, internet radio host Josh Hadley‘s t-shirt and poster designs on RedBubble were taken down after a complaint was lodged against them by Orwell’s estate.

You can see from the image Hadley sent to TorrentFreak below that the designs in question are currently placed back in pending, unable to be sold.

This is irony that I’m sure doesn’t escape the executors of Orwell’s estate. R … right?

(via Gizmodo)

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Jessica Lachenal

Jessica Lachenal is a writer who doesn’t talk about herself a lot, so she isn’t quite sure how biographical info panels should work. But here we go anyway. She's the Weekend Editor for The Mary Sue, a Contributing Writer for The Bold Italic (thebolditalic.com), and a Staff Writer for Spinning Platters (spinningplatters.com). She's also been featured in Model View Culture and Frontiers LA magazine, and on Autostraddle. She hopes this has been as awkward for you as it has been for her.

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