A rather tired old cliche now, I know, as pre-teenage kids wear Motorhead t-shirts as fashion accessories as a matter of course, without even the slightest knowledge of the work of Mr Kilminster & co.
But old punk iconography in the High Street still makes me wonder. What next? UK Subs slippers? And more pertinently, whose licensing this stuff and where is the money going?
Such is life it seems for bands who are now routinely described as 'legendary' or 'iconic'. Either you become accountants like U2 or you get ripped off.
Of course Tommy and the estates of Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee may be getting a slice of the shopping bag action. I don't know. Or perhaps it's Sire Records or their global owner who owns the rights to this Ramones artwork?
Like I said, I don't know, maybe it's the graphic designer who came up with the Ramones 'seal of office' in the first place, who should be topping up his pension fund. Or has the copyright holder shuffled off this mortal coil? Unlikely as copyright generally covers a set timeframe or the author's lifespan plus 70 years. So ownership should fall to their beneficiaries, rather than becoming out of copyright.
OK, I'm not a lawyer, but that's my guess.
What I do know, is taking this photograph got me thrown out of the shop I saw it in, amid demands that I delete the photo. Well as you can see, I chose to delete a photo... oops guess it wasn't the right one.
Back in the day, I had a Ramones t-shirt, bought at a gig of course. Saddest thing is, I rather like the idea of punk rock shopping bags, I'd just be a bit happier knowing that the bands featured, or at least a retirement home for distressed punk rockers somewhere on the south coast, was benefiting from the deal.
Somehow, knowing the fine upstanding reputation for ethical trading of the high street shop this picture was taken in, I doubt it.
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