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Feminist Frequency creator, and publicly known Feminist Anita Sarkeesian are now the head of controversy after refusing to show proof of her non-profit status. This comes after Tammy Smith, a freelance designer was notified that one of the character images she created was being used on Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter, as well as in her Tropes vs. Women series—without her permission. Tropes vs. Women, produced and written by Johnathan Macintosh, displays the “tropes” found in popular media, and male targeted video games. Sarkeesian showcases said games, and explain in specific areas and missions what is misogynistic, and biased about them. Johnathan Macintosh is a transmedia journalist, who is also known for being an advisor to Silverstring Media firm.

After Tamara Smith made the famous blog post that can be read here back in March of 2014, she sent an email to the Feminist Frequency team asking for proof of their non-profit status, which states:

“ Since you state in interviews that the video series infringing on my copyrighted work is non-profit: do you also have valid proof of 501(c)3 status, or a transparent breakdown showing that the kickstarter campaigns earnings are not being used to benefit any private shareholder or individual?” – Tamara Smith, artist

All of Feminist Frequency´s work is said to be “non-proffit”.

Feminist Frequency responded to Tammy via email on March 6^th, 2014 just two days after Tammy sent them an email. The response could only be viewed as defensive, as instead of replying with the evidence that the self-employed creator was seeking they decided to use litigation:

“Our remixed collage is transformative in nature and as such constitutes a fair use of any copyrighted material as provided under section 107 of the US Copyright law.

The fair use doctrine allows for re-use and transformation for the purposes of commentary, criticism and education without the permission of the copyright holder. Furthermore all Feminist Frequency projects are non-profit and made available for free to anyone online. No advertising ever appears on the Feminist Frequency website or videos.” – Anita Sarkeesian, Feminsit Frequency

“fair use of any copyrighted material as provided under section 107 of the US Copyright law”. I wonder if that law has change

Smith wasn’t satisfied by this answer, and further insisted that they provide their evidence of 501(c)3 status. Instead of providing the evidence that would have quelled the upset artist who was robbed of any due course, Feminist Frequency decided to enter the realm of actual legal representation instead. Smith wasn’t very happy about this, as no one would be. It showed a complete lack of empathy for her situation— in a mocking tone as if to say—too bad so sad. We have the law and money for a lawyer, and you don’t. Deal with it. Smith further responded with another email, this time being contacted by the attorney representing Feminist Frequency.

“Feminist Frequency is currently a California non-profit public benefit corporation, which is a new form of business entity in California. At this time Feminist Frequency would strongly prefer not to hand over that paperwork since it isn’t legally relevant. The first prong of fair use does not address commercial vs. non-commercial use. However, this does not depend on what type of company is using the work, but rather if the work is being used for commercial purposes and Anita’s project is not commercial in nature.”

Something tells me that Tamara Smith wasn´t all that much impressed by Anita´s response…

The final blow came when Tammy asked why they couldn’t just provide evidence to squash her qualms about the situation, and that anyone with nothing to hide wouldn’t have a problem doing so. The attorney’s response was that he was concerned that due to the nature of the situation, Tammy might leak the documentation online via social media and expose the Feminist Frequency team. The truth is, if you know how to search the Ca.gov you can find that information in a public entity without much effort. Also, why couldn’t they send the documentation in a redacted form, as other bloggers have done? One answer is that Anita and Johnathan haven’t been entirely honest in their pursuits of monetary compensation.

One issue critics of the web series have had is that Anita Sarkeesian received $160,000 from her Kickstarter campaign and still hasn’t finished her video series. Via Kickstarter’s pages, they state that the creator has a specific amount of time—per their own choosing to complete the project if not backers can seek a refund if they feel they weren’t treated righteously.

This is the “non-profit” status of Feminist Frequency.

This goes with you can Sue Anita Sarkeesian post. Next comes the fact Anita has only used a penance of the money to create said videos, the rest is still sitting—and was added to when she was paid another large sum to speak at a college campus—then canceled the speech after officers refused to pat down students in an open carry state. For someone who expresses Feminsim, equality, fair use, and compensating women in an industry dominated by men who don’t get paid, it would appear Sarkeesian is becoming the wolf wearing the sheep’s clothing. What’ more—it doesn’t seem to take a personal toll with her, as she’s become the very thing, Johnathan Macintosh intended her to be: Pinnochio.

If Feminism wants to stand a chance and change the world to spread equality and make us realize their ambition it needs to start with Sarkeesian denouncing people like Brianna Wu, Zoe Quinn, Randi Harper and other supporters of radical feminism. Then begin by using the money to fuel better job markets for women and become a public figure that people can look up to with conviction. And lastly get rid of Johnathan Macintosh. Having a male producer, writer, and boss is just making you the very thing you seek to fight against—women slavery for the sake of a dollar.

***Disclaimer***
This is a personal opinion of the writer, and it doesn’t necessarily represent the other writers (nor The Gaming Ground´s) opinions.

Kenay Peterson
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheDark_Mage