Perhaps The Real Bubble Is In Overly Aggressive Intellectual Property Claims

from the this-again? dept

Wed, Dec 12th 2007 3:17am — Mike Masnick

Last week, Kara Swisher posted a video to the AllthingsD site, with a parody song, based on Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" called "Here Comes Another Bubble." It was a bit silly, but self-referential enough that lots of folks couldn't resist highlighting it, so it quickly got passed around and linked on various sites. The video kicked off with a video clip that Kara herself had filmed and posted and then included a bunch of other photos and videos and the parody song. However, someone took exception to it and sent a takedown notice, forcing it offline. The first thought many people had was that it was the record labels, protesting the use of the Billy Joel song without credit, but Valleywag has another, perhaps more plausible, theory: a photograph of Valleywag bigshot Owen Thomas was used briefly in the video, and the photographer who took it got seriously pissed off about it. Thomas thinks the photographer may have sent the takedown notice that got the video pulled offline. If true, that would be unfortunate, and most likely an excessive use of a takedown. An extremely brief clip in a video that doesn't hurt the commercial value of the work is unlikely to be seen as infringing on the copyright. There's a reason fair use exists. If anything, this may be yet another example of copyright being used to prevent creative works, rather than encourage them. Of course, the performer of the song probably isn't too upset. This will just provide a second round of publicity for the song -- and, besides, he apparently just raised $3 million for his (unrelated to the video) startup anyway.

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Filed Under: bubble, copyright, trademark

11 Comments

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Daniel (profile), 12 Dec 2007 @ 4:33am

When does it Burst?
Yes, it would cause havoc - the MPAA declaring bankruptcy, the RIAA downsizing and Sony getting stuck with billions of DRM enabled coasters while the rest of the world goes online - but times like this sometimes require one to just "bite the bullet."
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Killer_Tofu (profile), 12 Dec 2007 @ 5:11am

Hmmm
"Last week, Kara Swisher ..."
"This will just provide a second round of publicity for the song -- and, besides, he apparently just raised $3 million for his (unrelated to the video) startup anyway."

Kara is a guy?
Aish
I hope that is a typo since I cannot verify any of that stuff from work here.
Either that or his parents had a cruel sense of humor.
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Anonymous Poster, 12 Dec 2007 @ 5:14am

Re: Hmmm
Kara made the video; t'was a different person that made the song used in the video.
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Killer_Tofu (profile), 12 Dec 2007 @ 5:37am

Heh
Thanks poster #3.
That explains it.
I couldn't quite garner that out of the article.
Although, re-reading it again, I spose I should have.
Doh!
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Dec 2007 @ 6:53am

Why should anyone buy your research abilities when most of your articles (like this one) is totally based on fiction? I guess the eyeballs justify all the "may haves" and theories.
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Gunnar, 12 Dec 2007 @ 7:07am

Re:
It's not some "I wonder if" theory of Mike's. He reported on someone else's theory, which is really the only theory that makes sense here. And he links to all relevant articles that would let you think for yourself and find a place to disagree with him from. Well, if you were inclined to do more make general, unsupported claims.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Dec 2007 @ 8:17am

Yeah, reporting other's maybes and theories makes it much more credible.
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Mike (profile), 12 Dec 2007 @ 9:44am

Re: Re: Hmmm
Kara made the video; t'was a different person that made the song used in the video.

Actually, no. Kara *posted* the video, getting it the attention. Some other guy made the video, but it spread around thanks to Kara posting it.
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Tom Shields, 12 Dec 2007 @ 9:48am

Setting the record straight
Since this post is mainly about credit, let's make sure it goes where it's due. First, the video is performed by the Richter Scales: www.richterscales.com. The main vocals are sung by Matt Hempey. In a totally unrelated news item, a different guy in the group (me) helped raise some money for a startup.

Too bad somebody who obviously disagrees that this "is unlikely to be seen as infringing on the copyright" has the power to take down a popular video. We all have real jobs, we do the singing thing for fun. Bummer that one person can ruin it for everyone.

-ts-
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Shun, 12 Dec 2007 @ 11:55am

Grammar?
Has anyone noticed the title: "Perhaps The Real Bubble Is In Overly Aggressively Intellectual Property Claims"

This seems to be incorrect. Shouldn't it be "Overly Aggressive"? Perhaps my English is no good, having been raised by surfers in Southern California.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Dec 2007 @ 5:10pm

Stealing
Notice that the photographer repeats that tired old lie in his blog that his photograph was "stolen" from him.
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