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You make something, it gets popular without credit, and you watch it slip through your grasp.
Take, for example, Pepe the Frog.
Pepe is infamous, Furie is obscure, and the connection between the two has largely been severed.
Another cartoonist, KC Green, similarly saw one of his charactersmeme-ified for political purposes.
The figure was initially named Question Hound but has since been dubbed the This Is Fine Dog.
He says the trick is vigilance, luck, and not being afraid to steal from your thieves.
It also didnt hurt that Green had already learned from past mistakes.
The image of Dick Buttwent viralin certain circles and Green quickly lost control of it.
I didnt even try and hold on to that copyright, Green says.
Nevertheless, even though he conceded defeat, hed seen what the arena looked like.
The success of Dick Butt didnt enrich Green, and he simply plugged away at his comics.
Take, for instance, the origin of the 2013 comic that spawned the This Is Fine meme.
It was just random writing.
I believe that document was literally just I wrote down the actual lines of This is fine.
Im completely okay with all of this.
Then someones face slops off because theyre in a burning place, or whatever.
That was all it took for me to write down an idea.
Then, I was like,Thats good enough.
After that, he continues: Im okay with the events that are unfolding currently.
He takes a sip from his mug and his arm catches on fire.
Thats okay, things are going to be okay, he says as he looks at the limb.
Finally, his face melts off.
That was Wednesdays comic.
Time to work on Fridays.
Green didnt much mind.
It wasnt a massive viral hit and wasnt associated with anything particularly repugnant.
What was the harm?
But that all changed with the 2016 presidential campaign.
Green continued to tolerate it, though the meme was going into uncertain waters.
Then came July 25, 2016.
Keep my name out of your mouth, he recalls.
War had been declared.
Since then, Green has been his own best advocate in the fight for his dogs future.
They paid me to use it in the end, he says.
I was like, Thats all I want.
What I want is to be respected as a cartoonist here.
I did talk to them and theyre like, We really want to use it.
I was like, Well, I really want you to pay me.
Thats all it was.
He issues takedown requests at user-generated e-commerce sites like Etsy and Redbubble all the time.
Ive done it enough that its like, You guys should maybe know this by now.
Do you guys not check that shit unless someone complains?
Nevertheless, he does do it and has been effective at keeping the bootlegging from getting out of control.
Not bad for a meme.
But most of all, Green has stolen from the people who stole from him.
Like,Oh, they wanted a tote bag with this on it?
Then Ill make a tote bag with that on it.
Turnabouts fair play, after all.
Its a tough balancing act.
Theres no easy answer for that.
Information wants to be free.
Jokes want to be free.
Is that what people are trying to say?
Thats so stupid, he says.
Thats some horseshit thinking, to be honest.
The fact that comics and humor like that permeate our culturedoesmake a difference.
Its so goddamn frustrating.
He pauses for a second.
Humor is a big, important tool, that no one takes seriously, he adds.
They always say, Its just a joke, but jokes got fucking Donald Trump in office.
I dont know what to fucking say to that, other than, Shut up.
