A month ago I blogged about my disgust at BBC Radio 5 Live’s so-called “adoption” of racing greyhound ShowMe TheBunny & my horror at discovering they were using one of my screenprinted designs as the avatar on the Twitter account they have created in this greyhound’s name & are using to promote her races.
I wrote 2 separate letters of complaint to the BBC, one explaining why I felt their endorsement of the greyhound racing industry as “a great fun night out” was highly inappropriate, & another demanding the immediate removal of my image from their Twitter site due to breach of my copyright.
Well, I think you will all be familiar with the completely unsatisfactory reply I received some week later from the BBC in response to the former, given that they sent the same blanket response which did not properly address the questions or issues raised to everyone who submitted a complaint! Well, at least the latter complaint resulted in the swift removal of my image from their Twitter page. However, I wasn’t through with the BBC yet…
With the help of my Trademark Attorney friend (who I should mention went into labour the day after!) I sent a further letter demanding compensation for their breach of my moral rights by associating me & my work with the promotion of greyhound racing, & advising them that I would be prepared not to take any further legal action if they made a £250 donation to Scottish Greyhound Sanctuary. The BBC took me seriously & before I knew it the sum of £250 had arrived in my bank account along with an apology from BBC Senior Rights Executive David Knight. Of course I immediately donated all of the money to SGS, where it will help save the lives of a few lucky greyhounds & find them loving forever homes.
I want to thank everyone who helped me to achieve this small victory: all those who supported me via my blog & Facebook page, the Folksy & Etsy communities, talented Trademark Attorney (& fab friend) Sinead Byers, tireless campaigner Trudy Baker who helped publicise my copyright infringement case via Greyt Exploitations, Holly Denton whose rescue greyhound Bomber my design depicted, & everyone on the SGS forum who was routing for me!
However, this is just a small victory, & the BBC continue to race ShowMe TheBunny & to support & promote the greyhound racing industry. So please don’t give up! Just this week Greyt Exploitations have revealed video footage filmed ShowMe TheBunny’s kennels in South Yorkshire showing the grim conditions in which she & countless other dogs are being kept, together with evidence that this dog is in fact owned by Colin Murray despite the BBC’s claims to the contrary.
Please ask the BBC once more to retire ShowMe TheBunny, withdraw their support of greyhound racing & stop promoting gambling on dogs.
Max & Molly: born to run, not to race
