Here’s a clever PSA from the folks at Rocketboom that shows exactly how to post your video works that are protected under Fair Use and prevent them from being arbitrarily removed from YouTube by ignorant dickhead ill-informed legal counsel of Big Media.
The Rocketboom Institute for Internet Studies explains how YouTube makes it easy to dispute a wrongful copyright claim.
For more information on the YouTube takedown process, visit the Electronic Frontier Foundation at http://meme.ly/DisputeYoutube
Over at Slate.com, Seth Stevenson shows how to use Google TV Ads a service that allows you – yes, you – to run your own commercial on national TV for as little as $100.
As Stevenson points out
The advertising industry won’t crumble overnight but it’s easy to see the barriers to entry have been lowered.
No shit.
This kind of democratized access to broadcast media is as important as the social linkages currently transforming our internet use and how the rest of the media connect with an audience. Television may, in some respects, become like the Buy & Sell or Craigslist with everyone and their uncle jamming the airwaves with a plethora of ads and messages heretofore unseen. I revel in anticipation for the coming chaos.
The best part is not just the ability of individuals or small groups to access a larger audience with their messages of commerce, politics or art but also the breaking of the hierarchical stranglehold corporations have held over how we see the world.
Personally, I’d love to craft a true mini-series – a string of 30 second episodes that get replayed across a span of time, a serialized production replete with narrative, characters, thrills, chills, love, larfs – maybe even a car chase – all of which, when linked together, would stand alone as a multi-episode production. Buy your own distribution as ad time to reach a massive audience and then drive them to the online existence of the world you have crafted. It’s fucking awesome!
This transformation of the advertising landscape itself will effect as much change upon us all as the ads themselves. You don’t get more disruptive than that.
The big boys won’t like it – but if they think they can make a buck on it, you can bet your ass it will happen – and it will explode – in good ways.
This was created as a collaboration between World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Ben Lee and Leo Burnett, “Space Monkey” carries a message about our planet, and features Ben Lee’s track, “Song for the Divine Mother of the Universe”.
While everyone in the Canadian media industry is busy gnawing on their skulls from the inside trying to figure out how to access new streams of federal cultural funding targeted for “new media” I continue to be impressed with those hearty few foolish inspired enough to just go ahead and fucking do it.
Fleeing armageddon, seven strangers take shelter in a mysterious bunker. Having survived the bomb, they now face their greatest challenge – each other.
The web series is created by Sketch-22, an east coast comedy troupe based in Charlottetown, PEI. I’ve met a couple of them and have had the pleasure of seeing them perform. They do the kind of funny that creeps on you and then, when you least expect it, milk starts shooting out your nose. Even if you haven’t been drinking any. Weird but true.
UPDATE: I had made a snotty remark here about the folks at Sketch-22 not allowing their video to be embedded but it seems they got the message and changed how their video is handled by Vimeo – (thanks, Cheryl!) – but even though you can watch it here you should also be sure to pay a visit to their site: bunkerdown.tv
This web series has been funded by the PEI Council On The Arts and the Island Media Arts Co-op – new episodes will start being posted every week beginning May 6th. Can’t wait to see more.
As reported earlier by the Open Video Alliance, the German film company Constantin Films AG has mis-used the DMCA provision of Notice & Takedown and YouTube’s ContentID system to have YouTube remove a huge number of parody videos that made use of a scene from the film Der Untergang(Downfall) featuring Hitler ranting in his bunker. The official website for the film is here.
The parodies all made use of sub-titles to put words in Hitler’s mouth allowing him to vent on everything from LOLCats to Michael Jackson and anything else imaginable. It was always great fun whenever a new one would crop up and some of them were piss your pants hilarious. It was perfect use of digital media to craft parody and satire. Be sure to read Alex Leavitt’s post on the whole Hitler Video Meme – it’s fascinating stuff.
Unfortunately Constantin Films used YouTube’s ContentID system which commits wholesale removal of materials identitified by the copyright holder without properly checking to see if copyright has indeed been violated. Under the dumbass rules of the DMCA, if a violation of copyright had been committed, YouTube would be obliged to act and remove the videos in question – unless, of course, they were clearly examples of Fair Use. While it is true Constantin Films controls the rights to the original film there are provisions in the DMCA that are supposed to protect Fair Use (also known as Fair Dealing here in Canada and India) which allows for the creation of works of parody and satire – but that rarely happens as large media companies continue to throw their weight around and just fuck everything up.
But why listen to me kvetch? Let Hitler explain it all for you.
Since YouTube has turned off embedding it’s no longer viewable through them except by going to their own pages here. But, since YouTube might take it down entirely – and since I see this as being a true case of Fair Use I fixed it so you can just watch it here:
Hitler Reacts To The Hitler Parodies Being Removed From YouTube
Constantin Films AG should really watch this one before they pull this or any others offline. And if you are interested in seeing the original film you can buy it here – and you do that you might also want to send Constantin Films an email telling them you did just that.
Cheers.
P.S. These video responses to Constantin Films on YouTube are also good:
UPDATE: Doctorow posted on BoingBoing on hw Google has responded to the outrage over the ContentID instant takedowns by highlighting the Fair Use button. Click the button and your video goes back up and the folks who submitted the takedown then have to take you to court to get the video off.
Ben Cato Clough and Luke Upchurch’s “When Copyright Goes Bad” (from Consumers International) is a great, 15-minute mini-documentary on what copyright can do, what it is doing, and what it needs to stop doing. Appearances by Fred Von Lohmann – Electronic Frontier Foundation; Michael Geist – University of Ottawa Law School; Jim Killock – Open Rights Group; and Hank Shocklee – Co-founder of Public Enemy.
It starts out kinda kitschy but then gets into the meat of the discussion and interviews. Definitely worth watching and sharing.
Cheers.
P.S. I am still recovering from yesterday’s 420 celebrations. I must be getting old.
I have been looking for a copy of this for a while, stumbled across it today and just had to share it with you.
It’s called Track Stars: The Unseen Heroes Of Movie Sound – shot in 1979, it features the work of foley artists Andy Malcolm and Terry Burke.
What’s really neat is when their efforts at foley in this short film get so over the top and you realize the entire exercise is a study in foley with them adding sound fx to the shots of them creating sound fx.
I had the pleasure of working with Andy on our Big Comfy Couch series and his passion for sound was infectious. He and his team were the best and we felt SO lucky to have their Academy Award winning talent helping us out on our dinky little kids show with clowns. Just freakin’ awesome. Andy can currently be found at footsteps post-production sound inc.
Thanks, Andy.
Cheers.
P.S. If you want to know more about Foley click here.
Talk given at SNW 2010 about three areas of policy — broadband, cybersecurity, and copyright, and about the corruption of the process of policy making affecting each. A mix of my old concerns with one section of the new concerns.
It’s a very good primer on where the U.S. (and consequently Canada and other countries) stands in regards to how the internet is being mishandled. The other talks are equally informative and engaging.
Lessig is to U.S. issues on the internet, copyright law and government corruption as Michael Geist is for Canada. Every time either of them speak out on points of law with respect to how our governments and corporations interact with the extension of our nervous systems (ie. the internet) we should pay heed.
I'm going to be slowly making some changes to the website both in format and content - and I'm pretty sure even the URL will change.
It's going to be more of a personal news aggregator with a featured video blog from yours truly. We'll see how long that lasts. So bear with me - thanks.
It's going to be more of a personal news aggregator with a featured video blog from yours truly. We'll see how long that lasts. So bear with me - thanks.