Yahoo deleted a controversial caricature of "Joker" Barack Obama from its creator's Flickr account. Why? Someone with an obviously fake name filed a copyright complaint.

Now Flickr's copy of the image is deleted forever. Photographer and outspoken Flickr-watcher Thomas Hawk has seen the name and reports the surname has no Google hits and looks "like someone just typed random characters on a keyboard." Hawk also wonders, "If... 'Bob Xjibtstruytubopluy' claimed copyright over images in President Obama's stream, would [Flickr] simply remove these images as well?" Given the interest in this story among the president's critics, it probably won't be long now before we find out.

(Photo illustration via Thomas Hawk)

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