It’s remarkable the following ‘Firefly‘ still has, especially considering the show only lasted 14 episodes. When Joss Whedon tried to resurrect it in the form of the movie ‘Serenity’, it also tanked, but the Browncoat army of fans is stronger than ever, and many still hope that Whedon will return to Firefly again some day. So it’s not surprising that anything related to the series would be popular among the fans – and that includes Jayne hats.
An odd bit of ‘Firefly’ news recently popped up about this popular item. For those unfamiliar with the show, they’re the orange and yellow knit winter hats that were worn by Adam Baldwin’s character, Jayne Cobb, that was a gift from his mom. Funny enough, this hat was used on episode #12 titled ‘The Message”, which didn’t air, but the hat had become a popular item for Firefly fans everywhere.
Except now it might be more difficult to get a hold of one, because Fox has been going after unauthorized Jayne hat dealers. While you can buy an authorized Jayne hat from ThinkGeek, anyone else selling them could face the wrath of Fox and this has the geek community in an uproar.
As the only authorized Jayne hat dealer, ThinkGeek claims they have nothing to do with unauthorized dealers being told to stop selling the hats, and in support of the fans, they will be donating the proceeds of all their Jayne hat sales to the Can’t Stop the Serenity charity until they are sold out of them. (An official Jayne hat will set you back $24.99.)
ThinkGeek put up a statement about this that reads, in part:
Browncoats, we hear your concerns about the cease and desist on Jayne Hat sellers. We weren’t involved in that process, but we have reached out to Fox and we’ve definitely heard what you’ve had to say.”
This raises a legal question or two. Recently, Warner Brothers stopped a custom car builder from making Batmobiles, and this makes you wonder if a hat can really be copyrighted. You also have to wonder how much hat sales could be cutting into a studio’s profits, especially with a show that wasn’t a hit.
Whoever initiated all of this should have realized that the fans would not approve, and it would just make Fox look like greedy corporate pigs. Joss Whedon and the Firefly gang are reportedly happy about these hats being out there in the world, so everybody should chill out and relax here, and let the fans wear their Jaynes as a badge of honor that shows the world that the show still lives on.
Source: The Onion
