DRM News

Copyright:

The legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work.

Ok, so we know that copyright comes into play so that artists are not ripped off and can be protected. I get that, and have no problems with it. It is important to have, and artists do need a protection. What goes a little too far is when going after copyright violators becomes a business for lawyers to make money.

The other aspect is if you look at ACTA, DMCA, Three Strikes rules, etc… its pretty much a blanket coverage and targets things that are not ‘piracy’ or ‘infringing’ at all. There is something called a ‘derivative work’ which means you can take original work, use it to create new work, and that is perfectly legal.

Now all of these fall under ‘fair use’ or ‘derivative works’. Yet if the large corporations of the MPAA and RIAA would have it their way, none of this would be allowed. A few years ago the RIAA started wondering why radio wasn’t paying them for using their songs. Despite the fact that without radio no one would be hearing their songs and going out and buying the records and CDs. One way of looking at that is that it is free advertising for record label artists, but not the RIAA; they want their money.

What’s interesting to note is that Disney, who goes after ANY sort of suspected copyright infringement with the sort of threats and intimidation that mobsters can only aspire to, themselves have used derivative works for the majority of their famous animations. Snow White, Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, and so forth. Its actually amazing how few of the great Disney ‘classics’ are actually original works. Yet this company will sick its lawyers after you for infringing on ‘their’ work.

You’ve probably seen those Hitler Parody videos on YouTube, where Hitler in his bunker rails against a number of different memes. They come from a 2004 independent movie called The Downfall: Hitler and the End of the Third Reich. Its a great scene and the actor is really really good in it, which is why its been so widely used. Well now its been reported that the distributor, Constantin Film, doesn’t like them and has filed a YouTube ‘Content ID’ claim, which basically means anything that could be perceived as infringing on copyright is taken down. The problem with this is it is overbroad, doesn’t factor in Fair Use or Parody. The EFF has also weighed in on this issue. 

This is hardly the first time that Content I.D., has led to overbroad takedowns of legal content. Copyright owners have used the system to take down (or silence) everything from home videos of a teenager singing Winter Wonderland and a toddler lip-syncing to Foreigner’s Juke Box Hero to (and we’re not making this up) a lecture by Prof. Larry Lessig on the cultural importance of remix creativity.

The reason for using the Content ID to get YouTube to remove the videos is because their claims of infringement would most probably fall flat with a DCMA takedown attempt. As bad as the DCMA is, it still has ‘some’ standards. One thing of note is the Director of Downfall Bernd Eichinger loves those Hitler parody videos.

I find those parodies tremendously amusing! Obviously, the film and this scene in particular is a real fire starter for people’s imagination. What else can you hope for as a filmmaker? This is moviemaking heaven! My favorite one is when Hitler is having his tantrum over his losses in the real estate crisis. Hitler’s real crisis at the time was also about a gigantic real estate loss: the loss of all those territories he had conquered fuelled by false credit and driven by avarice, megalomania and extreme ruthlessness. And then history’s Down Jones came crushing down on him….I find this parody so funny because it’s historically relevant.

Brad Templeton has probably the best response to Constantin Film’s Content ID claim.

While artists deserve to have their creative works protected, that should not stop innovation in the form of derivative work. It should also not be seen as a way for lawyers to threaten lawsuits to enrich their pocketbooks in what is essentially extortion. I’ve said it before, but its a good thing there were no caveman corporate lawyers because then fire would not have spread beyond the first fireplace. Creativity needs the ability to have ‘free expression’ and with changing technology new forms of expression are going to come out, these should not be hindered by corporations overreaching.