Festive fight over cover boy

Organisers of Brisbane's upcoming Valley Siesta have threatened to sue a rival organisation for stealing their promotional ideas for the popular annual snoozefest.
They claim the rival Valley Fiesta has used their images to promote their own activities, which include several days and nights of loud music - exactly what the Siesta folk vehemently oppose.
"We had arranged for a photographer to capture a series of images that truly reflect the spirit of the Valley Siesta and its slogan, Quiet and Not Just at Night," spokeswoman Stefana FritzGerard told The Bug before sneaking off for a quick afternoon nap in preparation for this year's event.
"Our committee came up with this image of a young boy dozing in a hammock, which was perfect to show the Siesta is not just for the increasing number of old fuddy-duddies coming to live in the Valley's overpriced unit developments.
"The photographer took a series of snaps with the lad in the hammock but then added: 'What say we put a big bushy moustache on his face, put an old-fashioned broad-brimmed workman's hat on his head and make him stand on a old wooden fruit box to make him look older?'
"We said to him: 'What the dickens would that have to do with the whole thrust of the upcoming Siesta?' But we went along with it just to amuse him and because he said he just wanted to finish off a roll of film.
"Besides, I think the boy was the photographer's son. They were certainly very close.
"In the end, we naturally selected one of the hammock pictures for all our promotional material and we expected the other shots to be destroyed, seeing we paid for the shoot and the model.
"You could have knocked us down with a feather when the Valley Fiesta booklet hit the streets with our boy on their cover.
"We've now had to pulp most of our own promotional material and that's why we've sought legal advice.
"They've taken our intellectual property and totally ruined it.
"Besides, what does a little boy wearing a big bushy moustache with an old-fashioned broad-brimmed workman's hat on his head and standing on an old wooden fruit box to make him look older have to do with really awful modern music played far too loudly for anyone's good?"

Not an isolated case

The latest controversy over the alleged theft of artistic images for two rival festivals in Brisbane highlights a growing problem, according to an experts in copyright law.
Stephen Leanto, a senior partner with law firm Fleese Klience, said people were now more litigious when it came to protecting their intellectual property.
Mr Leanto cited as an example the logo launched last year by promotional body Brisbane Marketing.
"We represent an academic at the University of Queensland who is taking action against Brisbane Marketing over the logo," he said.
"Our client has, for many years, undertaken very specialised research into issues of public drunkeness.
"He spent years studying the marks left on footpaths outside licensed venues by people who had regurgitated the contents of their stomachs after over-indulging in alcohol.
"As a result of this research he developed and refined what he calls a 'vomit template' which enables bouncers, publicans and others to predict the splatter range of any given vomit after factoring in variables such as footpath slope and composition.
"Imagine his shock when the Brisbane Marketing logo appeared and was identical to his vomit template. He was sickened - quite literally."
"We intend to pursue this matter to the bitter end," Mr Leanto said.