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Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?
9

Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

(OP)
Starting a few months ago, someone has been posting Dilbert cartoons in the men's restrooms in our building.  I'm a big Dilbert fan and found the cartoons very funny.  In fact, I still laugh when I re-read some of them for the 50th time.

One of the recent postings hit a little too close to home for our management.  In fact, the cartoon was altered so that it was directly applicable to recent management actions.  The cartoon was quickly removed by our management (I never even saw it), with a warning to boot.  The specific concern was that the cartoon would portray a bad image to outsiders that visited our facility, especially to outsiders that are aware of these recent management actions.  It is notable that all of the other cartoons were left in place.

This incident got me thinking - Is anonomously posting cartoons in public areas at work ethical?  Does it depend on the cartoon and/or the motive?

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

My 2 cents - I would say in that case, it was the editing that caused the problem, not the cartoon itself.  

I personally see no problems with posting cartoons on bulletin boards, it lightens things up.  We've become so politically correct it's ridiculous.

Greg Lamberson, BS, MBA
Consultant - Upstream Energy
Website: www.oil-gas-consulting.com

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

My additional 2 cents - If an unadulterated cartoon upsets your management, it's their problem.  The cartoon itself is public property.  If it for some reason rings true with the employees, clients needn't know.  If it's been modified, that's an indication that things smell.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Cartoons are fine.  Edited ones are not.  
I'd say the edited cartoon is the equivalent of putting up a sign ridiculing management.  It's not appropriate (but definitely not unethical).
If someone really has an issue, there are proper channels.

-
Aercoustics.com

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Edited cartoons are like graffiti.  Unedited cartoons are a sign that the management either has a sense of humor or believes that their company isn't reflected in the cartoons, which might be a positive point to outsiders, or not, if the outsiders see otherwise.

TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Quote:


The cartoon itself is public property.  

Uhm, actually typically the cartoon is NOT public property, so technically posting a photocopy of a cartoon (rather than a paid for copy) would be breaking copyright... which might be then considered 'unethical'.

SLH
who admits to having a copy of a cartoon on her wall, but maybe should take it down.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

I did wonder what phrase to use.  I should have said "In the public domain".

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

1st Amendment?

Although as it's a private entity, not goverment making these rules maybe not.

Plus you didn't say US.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Actually thinking about it.  If I've paid for a newspaper, it's mine.  I can cut bits out to decorate my cube as I see fit.  Or my bog.  Who mentioned photocopies?  Now that would be illegal.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

What makes the Dilbert series of cartoons so good is that they do reflect the latest management fashions, buzzwords, trendy trends and so on.

It should shock management to recognise themselves in the normal published cartoons, let alone one that's probably been mildly edited to make someone or something a little more like a particular person or company.

Praise the day when your management team does not sound or behave like Dilbert's bosses. Then there's a chance that they could be the enlightened manager's that will save us all.

Bill

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Is it ethical? Yes - of course. And, there's the free-speech rights issue as well.

However, is it politically correct (from the company politics standpoint). Apparently no – at least for that company’s environment. Company politics/atmosphere is something one has to always be sensitive to. In the US, most engineers are "at will" employees. I've seen employees fired for far-far-far less than a cartoon.

In some companies even ethics violations may even get you promoted! But in ALL companies, political violations can get you fired.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

So where does altering a copy of a legally purchased comic strip fit in?

I don't think it's illegal.

I also don't think there's anything less ethical about mocking management with an adulterated comic strip than mocking management with an unadulterated comic strip, if the unadulterated comic strip happens to be sufficiently painfully obvious.  It's the overt mocking of management (made more overt by altering the cartoon) in a public place that's not ethical, not the altering of the cartoon ("What?  You thought that cartoon was relevant to our situation?  Really?  I just thought it was funny in a generic way!") per se.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

It's not illegal; it falls under "fair use" doctrines of copyright law, just like making a single copy for personal use/entertainment.

However, marking up a cartoon is editorial in nature, and reflects the marker-upper's personal views and opinions, and as such, does not belong in the bathroom, unless there is a specific area apportioned for this type of posting.  Generally, this is not necessarily a good thing, since rants often get out of hand.

Posting the original cartoon is more of a neutral situation, since there is no editorial view being reflected, other than in the choice of a particular strip being posted.  Since intent cannot be overtly discerned, there should be less of an issue, other than demonstrating that management's sense of humor, or lack, thereof.

TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

It's not illegal.  It's not unethical.  It's just stupid.  Sure, the strip may be funny and true, but the people being ridiculed are the same ones that sign the checks.

FWIW I think management sent the right message by leaving the other strips.

-b

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Yeah, at least they left the other ones up.

We had to tidy our office a few weeks ago (new CEO) and a lot of very amusing, and painfully astute/accurate/poignant, Dilbert cartoons got pulled down.

I have the 2007 tear off Calendar.  I have almost 8 months worth of strips to put up.  I'm just not sure it's a good career move.winky smile

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

I hate to sound like management and I do note that I'm a big fan of Dilbert but....

While the cartoon itself is published for entertainment and can be used with due respect to the copyright laws, the office you work in is not a public place per se.  It is space owned or leased by a corporation for a specific purpose (make money? aggravate cubicles guys like me?).  Thus entitling the corporation to make and issue regulations as they see fit.  

We wouldn't bring a can of spray paint to work and mar the walls with "Morons work here" and expect the company to like our freedom of speech/expression.  Why would we expect them to be remotely agreeable to an ill-timed cartoon?

Just another side of the coin to consider...

Regards,
Qshake
pipe
Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

You mean I need to take the paint back?

Qshake does have a point, and I'm not remotely surprised management acted this way and not sure it's exactly wrong.

However, isn't it almost Dilbert managementesque to react to a Dilbert cartoon in this way?

I suspect Catbert is already planning the appropriate action.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

The first Dilbert cartoon that ever got posted in my cube (about an infuriating raise situation) was handed to me by my boss.

I have a feeling that if I were to have found it myself and posted it now, in the current climate surrounding me, I'd get written up for violence in the workplace for bringing up the words "must...control fist...of death".

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

I have about 12 Dilbert Cartoons in a stack on one of my desk.  People quite often come in to ask me about something and will read them while they are there.

Of course I have not put any in there that directly make fun of an individual or the upper management.

It's funny because the one's that are kind of vague, most people automatically assume it is about somebody else in the company.

There have been some that are so tempting to post up on the wall, yet I have to refrain.  As Qshake said, this is a place of business.

Zuccus

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

I agree with Qshake.

Sometimes I think Scott Adams works in my office, or at least he has the place bugged. It's uncanny how things that go on in this company often show up in Dilbert a day or two later.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

so... Haf.  

What's the cartoon? blllttt

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Posting a Dilbert cartoon may be against company policy?

If it is not against policy, and you post one that you bought (and not photocopied or otherwise illegally obtained) then it should be good.

Editing and posting anything, is probably treated as if someone typed something up and posted it on a bulletin. It would once again fall under company policy regarding such posting.

At most large companies, ALL postings require prior approval (including the stamp at the bottom) before it can be put up.

Is it unethical? That is not the point. It may be against company policy.

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."   
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

KENAT - Put that can of paint down!  Or at least get a ski mask!!

Regards,
Qshake
pipe
Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

All my ethics are based on Dilbert!

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Is posting Dilbert cartoons ethical? H**L, I think it's mandatory smile

Fred

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

A previous boss of mine used to read The Dilbert Principle and come out and discuss points with others; only time I saw him smile.

I too used to post modified cartoons and the like even when I was office manager for a while. If you can't laugh at yourself you shouldn't laught at others.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

What I don't like about the situation in the OP is the fact the cartoons were posted in the restroom. I don't like the guerilla aspect of it. If you have guts and have something to say, post it in your own office.

Freedom of speech, sure, but if anyone is free to post something in a public place like the restroom, anyone including management can take it away without owing explanation to anyone else. The reason of the company's image to visitors is a perfectly valid one.

Anyway Dilbert is great fun (I used to have them on my office walls as well), but the abundant presence of Dilbert cartoons in people's offices is an obvious sign of the company being doomed, and should be food for thought for management. After all it's only a symptom of something more fundamental.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Regardless of whether the posting of the cartoon is illeagal or unethical, the action of posting the cartoon is un professional.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Why is it that whenever professionalism is brought up on this forum it's basically used as a reason to take whatever your employer decides to dish out and not complain/stand up for yourself.

They may be denying you freedom of expression, or in other threads making you work long hours or making life miserable in some other way but the professional thing seems to be to suck it up and take it.

I suppose the professional thing to do if it causes you concern is just find alternative employment.

Now in this case I can see the employers point, as I’ve posted before, but I get sick and tired of professionalism being used as an excuse for employers to treat us poorly without any comeback

Sorry RARSWC, nothing personal.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

One more tangent off of that,

Why is it when you work during you days off, call into telcons during your vacation, it is expected behavior or you are called "dedicated".

If you insist on taking vacation and not work during that time, or refuse to travel just to make some manager or director happy, you told you are not a team player?

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

monkeydog - maybe because those seem like reasonable observations?

A team player puts the team's priorities ahead of his own, and a dedicated person might well waste their spare time working. I am astonished to hear that any company flies people just to keep managers happy.

Personally, I get 2 hours pay if they phone me at home, and five hundred bucks plus time in lieu if they make me fly at weekends. I do, twice a month, participate in overseas conference calls from home, so call me dedicated.



Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

I'm with you Kenat.
If it is unprofessional then I am beyond the pale.
We didn't have Dilbert or anything like (well Andy Cap I suppose)so I drew my own which proved quite popular.

Naturally enough, I did over do with one effort but even then, management didn't over-react. In fact they enjoyed most of them and some managers went so far as to collect the ones that were directed at them.... no,  don't mean they took them down as soon as they appeared, they genuinely collected them (I wasn't a rebel all the time..... and especially not at that company which was in its last throws of being a family company of the old style where the workforce had been there man and boy since god were a lad, well since it was founded 200 years before).

One of the biggest criticisms of any company is a lack of communication.
Usually this is discovered when the consultants come in e.g. the Investors in People guys who then discover that it is a management problem and not, as management thought, a worker problem.
This is mostly because management usually consists of handing down edicts but not listening to what bubbles up from below. They don't consult and they don;t discuss.

Cartoons etc.  are one of the less disturbing ways for the work force to communicate back and managers should take note (actually some of them could learn more from Dilbert about managing than from their company management handbooks).

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Greg,

It is true.  I can kill 3 days on travel, for a 1 day on site visit, for something that would take 2 hours on the phone with photos/drawings/diagrams in hand.  Managers and directers can then report up the food chain "Yea, we have Monkeydog flying out to the vendor to get this problem resolved."  I can push-back but eventually that trip is going to be made.  Best I can do is work with the vendor on the phone until the problem is solved, then go out to review the final resolution - that does not always work.

If I got paid for the home phone calls, that would be easier to swallow, and paid for travel time outside of business hours?  Wow.
 

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

If management wants people to fly or make phone calls in their own time because of some urgent reason, but refuses to face the (modest) cost associated with that in the form of overtime pay, then WHO is not dedicated..?

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

KNET

The requirement to act professional, applies to both the employee & the employer.  Professionalism doesn't preclude you from standing up for yourself or from complaining.

Acting professionally means that you are acting in accord with a standard of conduct.  Most companies have employee standards that the employee's are expected to follow.  Our conduct can also be govern by federal or state laws.  For example sexual harassment is illegal, even if an employer believes its acceptable.  Also Registered Engineers usually are bound to follow registration laws and other standard of conduct.

However the fact that some employer's act in an unprofessional manner doesn't relieve us of our responsiblity to act in a professional manner.  

We also act in a professional manner because it reflects on our character.

In the case of the person who posted the Dilbert cartoon, the question needs to be asked how would that person feel in his employer posted cartoons about himself.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

As some of this has got a little off track...

thread732-196326: Professionalism abused?

May be a better place to belly ache, sorry I mean share opinions on the matterwinky smile

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

As I get older, I find it best to read the cartoons, and keep them to myself. If someone else wants to read Dilbert, they can go buy a copy.

Anything not business related is best left in the briefcase, desk drawer or at home.

And, if you don't like management, then go buy your own business.

Charlie
www.facsco.com

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Charlie makes a good point.

On another note, I like Dilbert cartoons, but the joke is on the person who posted the cartoon in the washroom. Because if you think about it, he believes his company resembles a Dilbert company, yet he chooses to work there.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

You mean you found somewhere without any Dilber tendancies.

Please share so we can all flood it with our resumeswinky smile.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Hmmm.... good point, Kenat

Unfortunately, I don't know of such a place.

Star for you.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Jumping back to Haf's original post.  If there is an employee handbook etc, I would check it to see if there was a policy about posting items in "public" areas.  Where I work we have leeway to personalize our offices and there are select locations for posting things internally.  If there is no policy, I would not think it unethical (currently) to do postings.  Management may well end up establishing a policy and at that point, I would think it unethical to go against it.

Being in a corporation or office environment is not (my opinion) part of the public domain in a true sense.  You are constrained by the employer/employee relationship.

That said, I am also a Dilbert Fan.  I also had a Doonsbury cartoon (misplaced in my last office move), that had a couple of parent's talking about job stability and the one mentioning that his kid had outsourced his own job and was looking to moonlight.  I would be tempted to scan and post it here (should I find it again), but that would likely go against copyright laws.

Regards,

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

EPIC FIND!!!

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Article now posted on the bulletin board.

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Makes you wonder if it is ethical for managers to act like the pointy-haired boss.

Happy Holidays!

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

I've been watching those last 3 days as well with particular interest.  Apparently, Scott Adams lurks in eng-tips.

--Scott

http://wertel.eng.pro

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Is it wrong to post those three comics on my door?

I am the department manager, after all. . .

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

But EVERY manager has his own pointy-haired manager higher up.  Even Dilbert's boss thinks his boss is a knucklehead.

TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

my company just started blocking dilbert sad ...

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

Interestingly enough, my own employer (the Fraud Munter Co) also went through a miserable phase of blocking Dilbert. And then, miraculously, relented.

Whether this renewed access was the action of a renegade IT person or actual reversal of Company policy I can't say.

Bill

RE: Is Posting Dilbert Cartoons Ethical?

i found another way to read them, google image, then save the thumb to my desk top and then zoom in. hehe

so basically by blocking dilbert they are increasing the time I waste trying to read it. and increasing the chance I get a virus...

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