Free Speech, Parody and the Smacking Referendum
(crossposted from CreativeFreedom.org.nz)
Dylan Reeve’s Should-A.com 
launched last week as a comment on the upcoming referendum and its particular choice of question. As the site reads “The referendum in itself is fine, it is part of the democratic process in New Zealand. However the wording they chose makes a mockery of the process. New Zealanders are asked to vote on the question: Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand? What a loaded question! The obvious bias that that the smack was “good” and not “bad” made it ripe for parody and the site allows people to remix their own referendum questions into a poster to share with friends. Although this is public commentary we don’t have Parody And Satire protection within New Zealand and so this unlicensed remix of copyrighted images and trademarks are only allowed to exist at the discretion of the owner. I can’t imagine the Electoral Office taking action over this but it’s worth remembering that free speech involving remix can be effectively censored through legal enforcement of copyright and trademarks.
