The Saga of Matt and The Happy Show Against VIACOM INTERNATIONAL: A True Story!
Hi gang!
Whew! Battling a multi-billion-dollar evil, greedy, corporate media giant can be tiring! Last Friday, February 2, 2007, I received an e-mail from YouTube alerting me that one of my videos, a video that was a parody of reality television, was taken down from the site because Viacom International (the really big media giant that owns several cable networks, CBS, and Paramount) claimed that my video infringed on its' copyright (MTV's "The Real World").
First, it is a parody. Second, there was nothing in the video that infringed on any copyright from Viacom!
Well, I e-mailed and wrote letters to Viacom, YouTube, and even the Associated Press complaining about this when I learned that Viacom was taking down over one-hundred thousand videos claiming copyright infringement. Apparently, Viacom couldn't work out a deal with YouTube over users uploading clips from shows like "South Park" (Yep, Viacom owns Comedy Central, too), and so demanded that YouTube remove any videos with the barest connection to their properties.
Parodies are allowed by law. I made several videos over the weekend, both as a call to arms to others that had their videos taken down unjustly, and to get the word out about the rotten way Viacom was handling the whole situation. On YouTube, many people helped spread the word and offered me encouragement.
Well, today I was contacted by the legal department at MTV networks, and later YouTube, and they both admit that my video was taken down in error. My video parody is put back (though, at the time of this writing, it does not load like it should).
Here is the video history of my battle (Yeah, there's quite a few videos, I know):
You can fight City Hall! Yay!
Thank you to all my fellow YouTubers, MySpacers, and friends everywhere who supported me in this cause!
Matthew Hawes
www.TheHappyShow.net
Whew! Battling a multi-billion-dollar evil, greedy, corporate media giant can be tiring! Last Friday, February 2, 2007, I received an e-mail from YouTube alerting me that one of my videos, a video that was a parody of reality television, was taken down from the site because Viacom International (the really big media giant that owns several cable networks, CBS, and Paramount) claimed that my video infringed on its' copyright (MTV's "The Real World").
First, it is a parody. Second, there was nothing in the video that infringed on any copyright from Viacom!
Well, I e-mailed and wrote letters to Viacom, YouTube, and even the Associated Press complaining about this when I learned that Viacom was taking down over one-hundred thousand videos claiming copyright infringement. Apparently, Viacom couldn't work out a deal with YouTube over users uploading clips from shows like "South Park" (Yep, Viacom owns Comedy Central, too), and so demanded that YouTube remove any videos with the barest connection to their properties.
Parodies are allowed by law. I made several videos over the weekend, both as a call to arms to others that had their videos taken down unjustly, and to get the word out about the rotten way Viacom was handling the whole situation. On YouTube, many people helped spread the word and offered me encouragement.
Well, today I was contacted by the legal department at MTV networks, and later YouTube, and they both admit that my video was taken down in error. My video parody is put back (though, at the time of this writing, it does not load like it should).
Here is the video history of my battle (Yeah, there's quite a few videos, I know):
You can fight City Hall! Yay!
Thank you to all my fellow YouTubers, MySpacers, and friends everywhere who supported me in this cause!
Matthew Hawes
www.TheHappyShow.net
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