Disputes Over The Famous Yellow Smiley

By Author: Billy Bobb
Total Articles: 41
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Smileys and emoticons are a big part of the internet culture of today's youth, who use emoticons to add indications of emotion

and nuance to sentences that could otherwise be misunderstood. They use them widely in emails, instant messenger chat, and forum postings. But despite their massive popularity, most people really have no idea how the smileys started and who created them.

An advertising campaign for State Mutual Life Insurance that was produced in 1963 by freelancer Harvey Ball, was the first known occurrence of the yellow and black smiley we all know and love today. The smiley became much more popular in the 1970s when two men named Bernard Spain and Murray Spain started
to use the image on a line of novelty goods. Buttons and badges, drink mugs, t-shirts, and stickers were some of the popular items in this line of goods, with the slogan "Have a happy day". This simple yet potent message and matching image were a clear reminder to the average working person to enjoy every day of their lives, rather than getting lost in the stress of the hustle and bustle.

Many people and groups have laid claim ...
... to the yellow and black smiley, the almighty Walmart included. Walmart utilized the smiley image in a massive 2006 promo campaign, and attempted to claim legal title to the image. A battle between them and Harvey Bell, as well as another company called "Smiley World" which licenses the smiley in many countries, ensued. In 2008 a judge ruled that Walmart did not own the image, recognizing that it has been around for decades. Walmart subsequently removed the image from its advertising campaigns and website.

It makes sense that such a simple image could have been simultaneously produced by different people's imaginations with

no knowledge of the others.|With the smiley being such an incredibly simple image, it's natural that many people lay claim to
the image and claim they created it, even though other people's imaginations also created it at the same time.|It goes without saying that such a simple image can be developed simultaneously by the minds of several unrelated people who don't know of each other, and that they would all lay claim to the idea.|The smiley is such an incredinly simple image that there is little doubt that multiple imaginations could have "created" the same icon, so it makes sense that there are multiple copyright claims.} But perhaps Harvey Ball can claim the copyright based on moral highground, since he uses proceeds from licensing the smiley face to fund his charitable organization. This generosity reflects the values that are inherent in such a positive happy image.
Billy Bobb specializes in graphic design and web design}. See his favorite clipart at Clipart For Free, with Smiley Face Clip Art and more.