Sony Using Copyright To Take Down Its Own Anti-Piracy Propaganda
from the copyright-inception dept
Sony has apparently decided that you can't see its anti-piracy propaganda, because it might be pirated.
There are a few iconic sitcoms I remember from my childhood and What's Happening!! is probably near the top of that list. What I had forgotten, is that the show once included a two part episode all about the evils of bootlegging, with guest stars, the Doobie Brothers. In that "very special episode," the character of Rerun is caught trying to secretly tape the Doobie Brothers playing a show at their high school. Or as Mental Floss puts it:
The band, who are so upstanding they named themselves after an illegal drug, proceed to lecture the youngsters on morality and righteousness.
So, that's cool. Either way, DC policy advocate Josh Lamel recently went looking for clips of that episode and discovered that they've all been taken down:
I wanted to find a video of Rerun taping the Doobie's concert from "What's Happening". Sony is literally blocking their own anti-bootlegging propaganda with a #copyright takedown. https://t.co/bDaNyT8AKz cc @mmasnick @ilusasha @blakereid @M_F_Rose @AnnemarieBridy @Producing2Power
— Joshua Lamel (@jlamel) February 8, 2019
Indeed, if you try to visit any of the clips of that episode, you get this following:
And, obviously, this is Sony's choice. The clips may, indeed, be infringing. But it does seem to show the level of insane protectionism that the copyright maximalist mentality leads to, where you hyper vigilant focus on taking down all the things includes you sending copyright takedowns of your own propaganda on why piracy and bootlegging is so bad...
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Filed Under: copyright, doobie brothers, propaganda, sitcoms, takedown, what's happening
Companies: sony
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However if you let them install a rootkit, they'll let you see it.
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Were it me, I'd immediately check my system for a rootkit after trying to view the video and failing to.
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In the good old days, organizations freely distributed propaganda to reach the masses.
Now they only let you see propaganda if you sign up and pay a subscription.
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Some type of mechanical license or ASCAP setup would eliminate this issue.
The payment doesn't have to be big, just enough to stop piracy of the anti-piracy episode that was pirated by pirates.
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No one who wants to see a fair use clip is going to buy the series boxed set to see one bit. On the other hand, people who come across that clip may find themselves interested in buying something they never got to see, or who miss a show from ages ago of which they were just reminded.
Mechanical licensing for all the things is a stupid and bad idea.
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ASCAP fees are very reasonable. If a site wants to use old clips to build an audience they should pay into a centralized repository like with ASCAP. This would eliminate any claim of infringement while freeing up creative people to do their work. Large websites can get unlimited licenses and be the backbone for the creativity.
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Judging from the history of ASCAP licensing, they'll eventually just demand every website get a license whether they host content or not - "just in case." and take you to court if you don't comply.
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If by eventually, you mean 1 second after the law passes. That assume the legacy publishers agree to a licensing approach, rather than putting up their own websites and using every mistake to drive sites that support self publishing out of business.
What happens if some agree to licensing, and some refuse to allow licensing?
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that sounds like EU article 11 and 13
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The only reasonable fee for fair use is zero, and it's difficult to see how posting 80s propaganda could be anything but fair use. Such things are almost always posted for critique and historical reference.
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Can these people still see themselves in the mirror, or is that not possible anymore?
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Mirrors have been taken down via a DMCA claim as they were making unauthorized copies of people's images.
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Mirrors clearly have been part of the "Analog Hole" and need to be shut down along with stream ripping services. Anything that can enable copying will be stopped regardless of any non-infringing uses.
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Future mirrors will be cameras mounted on flat screens with built in facial recognition, with an always-on connection to the net to make sure all the proper fees are paid per usage. ;)
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Of course not -- they haven't obtained the licenses for that.
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Woh ooh oh, listen to the music
Doobie, or Not Doobie? That is the...
This quote has been discontinued due to a copyright claim by Robert Greene, Kit Marlowe and Francis Bacon.
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Inevitability
If the copyright maximalists get everything in their wildest dreams, will come a day when nobody, including the big corporations, can post anything.
When William Shakespeare gets added to the filters, that will take down about a third of all western content right there.
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Someone better do a wellness check on Masnick. He's losing it
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That's nothing compared to the anonymous asshats spewing their idiocy in the comments.
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Having views different than you is not a mental health issue.
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Re: Step up step up. Everyone look at the freak!
Copyrights best and brightest on display right here.
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DM
The video, if you want to subject yourself to that garbage, is on DailyMotion.
I didn't realize how horrible their player was, shite site.
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Re: I didn't realize how horrible their player was, shite site.
That’s OK. youtube-dl doesn’t care.
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It used to have a legit good(-ish) player and site design. I have no clue in re: why they decided to fuck that all up.
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I once had a content producer tell me that if anyone reposted his sample images, he would file legal action against them for violating his copyright. In other words he was threatening legal action over people helping to advertise his content!
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Apparently less than the sites writing about for example the Kardashians stupid shenanigans, so you better scamper off to those sites since it seems those sites have more traction and would suit you better.
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