Spot the difference: BNP steal Conservative logo in party rebrand

The nation’s foremost bunch of racists are now extending their franchise to plagiarism – essentially stealing the Conservatives’ logo. The new livery forms part of a broader rebranding for the far right party, which will also drop use of the BNP acronym in official literature.

British National Party leader Nick Griffin has unveiled the party’s new official logo, a Union flag emblazoned heart with the party’s name, on the first official day of the party’s annual conference in the East Midlands.

“This logo will illustrate exactly what this party is about,” Mr Griffin told the 200-strong conference.

A brush-effect Union Jack logo. Where have we seen that before?

Spot the difference? The Union Jack version of the Conservatives'
2006 tree logo appears to have been appropriated by the BNP

The BNP have already spent up to £170,000 settling a lawsuit with Unilever after the party used a Marmite jar in a party political broadcast.

With this latest cock up Griffenführer may well have another court case on his hands.

UPDATE: As a reader points out in the comments, calling Barack Obama an “Afrocentrist racist bigot” didn’t stop the BNP from stealing his website design earlier in the year.

Political Scrapbook

Singer Edwyn Collins takes on the British National Party and wins

Pop star's fury as BNP website uses hit song

City rocker Edwyn Collins demanded that the BNP remove his song from a "bizarre" party website that is being investigated by police.

The Edinburgh-born star's hit A Girl Like You featured on a Lothians British National Party website behind images of Asian men burning a union flag and veiled women waving banners saying "God Bless Hitler". The "Lothians BNP Video" site has now been taken off-line and its creator, BNP Central Scotland organiser Mike Coyle, has resigned from the party.

Police are investigating whether any action can be taken against the site. Edwyn Collins' wife and manager, Grace Maxwell, warned the BNP against using copyrighted material on their websites.

Ms Maxwell said: "There are many iffy videos on YouTube using A Girl Like You without permission and we are normally very relaxed about it. Whilst we don't believe that viewers would imagine for a moment that Edwyn has sanctioned the use of his track in this bizarre setting, for the removal of any doubt, we will require it to be deleted and will take the necessary steps to ensure that this happens."

The site, which was accessed via a link on the BNP Scotland website, also featured Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World with a montage calling the founder of Islam a "murderer" and "a paedophile", and several original songs by a Whitburn-based heavy metal band called Mott & Bailey.

The tracks railed against "invaders marching through our land, coming in like the night" and "darkness bringing down the walls". Videos accompanying the tracks featured images of 9/11, the London bombings and processions of coffins being carried through Wootton Bassett intermixed with images of British mosques and protesting Muslims.

Mr Coyle initially defended the site, stating that he saw nothing criminal in its content and claiming that "the BNP are not in the business of upsetting people". However, within hours of being contacted by the News, copyrighted content had been removed and the site had been re-branded "The Unofficial BNP Video Site". Mr Coyle then resigned.

The father-of-four said: "My last act as a BNP member was to dismantle this site. I put my head above the parapet and ended up being lied to. I set up this website with the full approval of the Scottish party, but now that my name stands to be dragged through the newspapers they have failed to show me any support. When I stood as a candidate in the last election my children were subjected to death threats, but I stood firm. They have lied to me for the last time."

The BNP Scotland website carries contact details for party members, party news and a page of material written by BNP Scotland leader Gary Raikes.

Edinburgh Evening News

The cheap and nasty party...

A couple of our readers have pointed out that the BNP is currently advertising on its website for someone to fill the role of Group Support/Training Officer. Nothing wrong with that, of course, though we would have expected the party to have invested in a new member of staff who actually knew their way around a set of accounts, or possibly someone who could get reasonably close to winning a by-election. Still, it's not for us to wonder why - just to take the piss. And we can do this by taking a closer look at the advert, which looks like it has been cobbled together by someone with too much spare time, an overwhelming sense of their own importance and the mistaken belief that plagiarising whole sections of the ad from another website would never come to light because they are a management guru. Yes, it looks like Jim Dowson has been in action again, doing whatever it is that he does for the BNP in the cheapest way possible in order to maximise his own profits.

There's actually nothing wrong with the ad itself, though it's a tad verbose. Most job descriptions tend to be padded out with all kinds of nonsense which in theory relate to the job but in practice are just buzzwords and phrases to make it sound good within a corporate environment. Like I said, there's nothing wrong with that, and most personnel officers use this kind of language as a matter of course - but it doesn't come naturally from the BNP or anyone I've ever heard from the party. So where has it been pinched from?

Well, as it happens, we know. There is a group called Businessballs which provides 'free online learning for careers, work, management, business training and education', among other things. If you ever wondered where Dowson got his expertise at business or even where Lee Barnes picks up his sometimes surprisingly lucid notes on employment law, you've found the source. And it will come as absolutely no surprise at all to be told that while the BNP is happy to plagiarise a good deal of Businessballs' text for its advert, it's a little coy about acknowledging Businessballs' copyright.

So where is the evidence that the BNP's ad-writer has plagiarised? Mostly not until the profile of the new employee is discussed in the ad. See below:

The BNP's plagiarised advert (click on image to enlarge)

It's worth comparing the two sections because the BNP has lifted most of its ad verbatim from Businessballs - particularly the Specific Job Skills, Computer Skills and the Literacy and Numeracy sections.

Businessballs' original version (click on image to enlarge)

The contents of the Businessballs page is provided free, and a bloody good resource it is, but the site owner, one Alan Chapman, clearly states that,

'The use of this webpage is free provided copyright (see below) is acknowledged and reference or link is made to the www.businessballs.com website. The webpage text may not be sold, or published in any form. Disclaimer: Reliance on information, material, advice, or other linked or recommended resources, received from Alan Chapman, shall be at your sole risk, and Alan Chapman assumes no responsibility for any errors, omissions, or damages arising. Users of this website are encouraged to confirm information received with other sources, and to seek local qualified advice if embarking on any actions that could carry personal or organisational liabilities. Managing people and relationships are sensitive activities; the material and advice available via this website do not provide all necessary safeguards and checks. Please retain this notice on all copies.

© alan chapman 2006-2009'

Elsewhere, in a more explicit statement of the copyright for the site, Alan Chapman says,

'Reproduction of Businessballs materials online (internet or intranet) for any purpose requires permission.'

Naturally, the BNP, not even granting an author his own acknowledgement, has chosen to ignore this notice and we feel that this should be brought to the author's attention. You can do this by emailing Mr Chapman on ac@alanchapman.com or calling him on 0116 235 5585. Let us know what response(s) you get via the comments. For reference, the BNP advert is here (the link goes via an anonymiser).

NF Caught Out in Norse God Blunder

Click on image for full-size

The thing about your typical Nazi, it seems to me, is that they aren't particularly bright when it comes to certain aspects of the law.

Copyright law, for one. Last year we had the enjoyable spectacle of Paul “Green Arrow” Morris having to change the masthead to his horrible little blog under threat of legal action from DC Comics – and now there are copyright problems for the National Front. Remember the NF? Once the brand leader for Far – Right nutcases (Prop: John Tyndall); long since fallen on hard times.

Well, times may get a little harder yet.

While doing my daily trawl of the internet sewer yesterday, I came upon an exciting offer to purchase “Thunderbolt - The Quarterly Political Magazine of the National Front” (above). It was helpfully subtitled “White Nationalism for a new Millennium!” in case I missed the point, and featured a lovely painting of the Norse God Thor, dressed only in helmet, oil, sandals and a thong, and just caught in the act of going into a Muscle Beach posing routine to try and impress some passing giants.

Let's face it; It's not great art. But more to the point, it's not the NF's art, either. It's a detail from a painting by Boris Vallejo, who's been the Illustrator of Choice for muscular adolescent fantasies involving well – built chaps and ladies with no blouses on since the 1960's.

The internet's a wonderful thing, etc, etc, and it only took a few minutes to verify the authorship of the painting, find a contact email for Mr Vallejo and drop him a few lines (with links) about his latest magazine cover.

A reply came just as quickly: “This is not only a violation of my copyright but also my principles...if you can tell me where to write to these people I will be happy to let them know.” Easily done. Gratifyingly, Mr Vallejo (along with most of his colleagues in the U.S Fantasy / Comic scene) guards his copyright jealously, and employs lawyers who possibly (I like to imagine) dress like Mr Thor and have muscles in their very earlobes.

It may not be something that will bring the NF tumbling down, but it's certainly going to be an irritant for them. Something they could well do without and easily avoidable if only their “Thunderbolt” Editor had shown the slightest bit of sense.

BNP's copyright-breaching habits spread to the lower ranks

Green Arrow: copyright thief, idiot and bigotThe BNP's breach of copyright over the recent use of a Marmite jar in a broadcast without permission is likely to cost the party a hefty five-figure sum - corporate lawyers tending to dislike people who steal their company's intellectual property without either paying the going rate or at least asking their permission before use.

But it's not just the BNP itself that is happy to breach copyright law - the habit seems to have been passed on to at least one of the party's supporters.

Exactly six months ago, we reported that the cretinous bigot Paul Morris (yes, Green Arrow), one of Nick Griffin's most vocal arselickers, had stolen the work of artist Mark Simpson, who had supplied the artwork for a Green Arrow series for DC Comics back in 2006. When he had realised this, Simpson emailed Morris to object, only to be told by the petulant Morris that '…the origins of the Green Arrow name had nothing to do with some pathetic socialist comic hero', though what that had to do with the theft of someone else's well-crafted artwork wasn't made clear.

In any case, Simpson was informed that the image would be removed and that was an end to the matter as far as he was concerned. He had, it seems, only strayed on to the Green Arrow site by accident and, like most humans with a brain, was unlikely ever to visit the site again through choice.

However, Paul 'I love Porky Griffin' Morris, is not only a devoted creep, he is also a serial liar, as Denise reports in her excellent article here. And it is this article that led to one of our readers popping over for a quick peek at the Green Arrow site (screenshot, above), where he discovered that the image Morris had agreed to remove is not only still in place but appears to have doubled in size.

Perhaps this is Morris's way of thumbing his nose at the artist who dared to question his right to do whatever he pleases - Morris is nothing if not pompous and arrogant - but he may find that the owner of DC Comics, Warner Brothers, is even less forgiving than the owner of the Marmite brand, Unilever. Let's hope so, because we'd like our readers to complain about his theft of copyright images to DC Comics directly.

Naturally there are circumstances under which organisations would seek the permissions that Paul Morris should have sought. In his case though, he shouldn't bother, because DC Comics is pretty unequivocal on the matter.

'What follows are detailed guidelines for submitting a request for the right to use our materials...here’s a list of requests for which we will NOT grant permission'

'Military, government, or other political organizations, or requests of a military, governmental or political nature.'

Whoops. Feel free to contact the relevant people at DC Comics via email on dc_publicity@dccomics.com to express your surprise and dismay at seeing the artwork of one of their fine artists sullied by association with this rabidly racist buffoon. If enough people email them, we're pretty sure that DC will take a look at the Green Arrow site. Once they do that and see the kind of lunatic ramblings that take place there, a takedown notice should follow swiftly.

Thanks to Paul S for the heads-up.

Quiggins boss told to halt use of 08 logo

The former owner of Liverpool’s Quiggins centre has been warned by the city’s Culture Company about using the 08 logo to promote the British National Party.

Hill Dickinson, the Culture Company’s solicitors, have written to BNP party member Peter Tierney threatening legal action over his use of a version of the Liverpool 08 logo on an advertising hoarding he tows behind a vehicle.

The threat comes in the same month they contacted former Culture Company chief executive Jason Harborow for using the logo on the website of a consultancy firm he set up after leaving the company.

But Mr Tierney, who trades as Peter Quiggins from his antique dealership on Aigburth Road, claims the threats are unnecessary and heavy-handed.

He said: “I put the logo on my trailer and it says that the city has been sold off. It’s not the Capital of Culture, it’s the Capital of Vultures. I’ve even drawn the logo myself – when you look at it, you can tell I’ve drawn it.”

He said that he was making a political statement and should be allowed to exercise his right to free speech. Far from using the logo for his own ends, he said he was attempting to undermine what he sees as a false impression created by the Capital of Culture status.

Mr Tierney fought a long-running battle with the city council and developer Grosvenor, who wanted to use the Quiggins site on School Lane for the Liverpool One development. Despite thousands of people supporting his battle, the site was eventually built on.

It is not the first time Mr Tierney has used iconic images to publicise his battle. In 2002 he unveiled a massive banner which morphed his face with Che Guevara as he fought to survive the rebuild programme. However, his current links with the BNP have caused the Culture Company to take a dim view of his actions.

A spokesman said: “We do not affiliate ourselves to any political parties so we will not allow our logo to be used in this way.”

The letter sent to Mr Tierney, is almost identical to the one posted to Mr Harborow. That letter states that his use of the logo is an infringement of the company’s registered rights along with their intellectual property rights.

It adds: “We have advised our client further that they are entitled to institute infringement proceedings against you in respect of trade mark infringement.”

Liverpool Daily Post