Lionsgate No Longer Trying to Shut Down Anti-Hunger Advocates

http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2012/03/24/451243/lionsgate-wont-shut-down-hunger-games-inspired-anti-hunger-advocates/


By Alyssa Rosenberg on Mar 24, 2012 at 10:22 am

Lionsgate, which is set for a record-breaking opening weekend with its movie adaptation of the dystopian young adult novel The Hunger Games, has reconsidered the takedown notice the company sent to imagine Better, an organization running an anti-hunger campaign inspired by the franchise.

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http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2012/03/23/450357/exclusive-as-the-hunger-games-opens-big-lionsgate-tries-to-shut-down-anti-hunger-advocates/

By Alyssa Rosenberg posted from ThinkProgress Alyssa on Mar 23, 2012 at 11:45 am

There’s a long tradition of pop culture fans banding together to raise money for or take action on good causes, whether it’s the Browncoats, fans of Joss Whedon’s Firefly series raising money for charity, or the Harry Potter Alliance, which has done everything from send medical aid to Haiti to campaigning for marriage equality in Maine.

And fans of Suzanne Collins dystopian young adult series The Hunger Games are no different. Pegged to the opening of the film adaptation of the first book in the series, a movie that could be the most profitable film release of 2012, Imagine Better, an umbrella group of multiple fan franchises spearheaded by the Harry Potter Alliance, partnered with Oxfam to launch a campaign called “Hunger Is Not a Game.” It’s a multi-pronged effort, but the main thrust is in support of Oxfam’s GROW campaign, which aims to make food aid more efficient by encouraging local cultivation to reduce shipping costs and waste from spoilage.

These are noble goals, and you’d think Lionsgate would welcome the good publicity that stems from them. It should be a gift to the studio that The Hunger Games isn’t just poised to be a massive blockbuster, but that it’s getting young people to think and act critically, so much so that they’re getting written up in the New York Times for it. And a month ago, that appeared to be the case: a Lionsgate representative emailed Andrew Slack, the executive director of the Harry Potter Alliance which is the organizing force behind Imagine Better, in February to say that while Lionsgate couldn’t join Imagine Better as a partner, they wished Imagine Better “the best of luck.”

Apparently no longer. Lionsgate’s senior vice president for business affairs and litigation, Liat Cohen (who’s been rather vigorous in defense of the project in the past), has issued a takedown notice to the campaign through Oxfam, accusing them of “piggy backing off of our motion picture” and “causing damage to Lionsgate and our marketing efforts.” The full text of the email is here:

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