In addition, she continued, “The U.S. Copyright Act excludes any works created by the federal government, but not by state or local governments, so technically the state of Georgia owns the photo, subject to copyright restrictions. area of fair use.” In any case, neither concern seems to have held anyone back.
Trump’s campaign has performed very well, as you would expect from a man whose greatest product has always been himself, and whose view of the world often seems to involve monetization.
Purchasing a product from a candidate’s store is equivalent to money in the candidate’s bank account, as such a purchase is effectively a donation under federal law; the object is the bounty you get in return. On August 26, Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, said placed on X that since the photo was taken, the campaign had brought in $7.1 million, with “$4.18 million yesterday (Friday) alone, the most profitable day of the entire campaign.”
It’s the same story at the Lincoln Project, where co-founder Rick Wilson said that shot glasses (one of ten possible mugshot-related products the creative team tested) were the fastest-selling product the organization had made since 2020. All proceeds, he said, would go to their media campaign to raise awareness about the “threat to the Republic” they say Mr Trump represents.
“It’s a way of capturing a moment like this in a way that turns Trump’s notoriety and infamy on itself,” Wilson said. To use that fame for another purpose, the Green Day T-shirt is being sold to benefit Greater Good Music, a charity that helps victims of the Maui wildfires.
What they and everyone involved, including the Etsy and Redbubble sellers — who are simply benefiting from a cultural convulsion — understand is that our politics are increasingly not real unless advertised. Or maybe they are too real until they are reduced to the digestible level of advertising.
