Legacy
Since the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four the phrase "Big Brother" has come into common use to describe any prying or overly-controlling authority figure, and attempts by government to increase surveillance.
Ukrainian-American comedian Yakov Smirnoff makes frequent reference to both Big Brother and other Orwellian traits in his Russian Reversal jokes.
The magazine Book ranked Big Brother No. 59 on its 100 Best Characters in Fiction Since 1900 list. Wizard magazine rated him the 75th greatest villain of all time.
The worldwide reality television show Big Brother is based on the novel's concept of people being under constant surveillance. In 2000, after the U.S. version of the CBS program "Big Brother" premiered, the Estate of George Orwell sued CBS and its production company "Orwell Productions, Inc." in federal court in Chicago for copyright and trademark infringement. The case was Estate of Orwell v. CBS, 00-c-5034 (ND Ill). On the eve of trial, the case settled worldwide to the parties' "mutual satisfaction"; the amount that CBS paid to the Orwell Estate was not disclosed. CBS had not asked the Estate for permission. Under current laws the novel will remain under copyright protection until 2020 in the European Union and until 2044 in the United States.
The iconic image of Big Brother (played by David Graham) played a key role in Apple's 1984 television commercial introducing the Macintosh. The Orwell Estate viewed the Apple commercial as a copyright infringement, and sent a cease-and-desist letter to Apple and its advertising agency. The commercial was never televised again.
The December 2002 issue of Gear magazine featured a story about technologies and trends that could violate personal privacy moving society closer to a "Big Brother" state and utilised a recreation of the movie poster from the film version of 1984 created by Dallmeierart.com.
In 2011, media analyst and political activist Mark Dice published a non-fiction book titled Big Brother: The Orwellian Nightmare Come True which analyses the parallels between elements of the storyline in Nineteen Eighty-Four, and current government programs, technology, and cultural trends.
Computer company Microsoft patented in 2011 a product distribution system with a camera or capture device that monitors the viewers that consume the product, allowing the provider to take "remedial action" if the actual viewers do not match the distribution license. The system has been compared with 1984's telescreen surveillance system.
Read more about this topic: Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
Famous quotes containing the word legacy:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)