Fox Publicity Department Trying To Exert Editorial Control Over Dollhouse Fan Site?

from the that's-not-how-it-works... dept

It's no secret that some entertainment companies have had trouble recognizing that fan sites help promote a show and add value to the show for free. In spite of these benefits, they still seem to have trouble with fan sites, sometimes threatening them over intellectual property violations or simply trying to shut them down. Now Blake points us to the news that someone in Fox's publicity department is apparently trying to exert editorial control over the fan site Dollverse, which helps promote the TV show Dollhouse. From the details, it really does look like a single person in the publicity department writing a too-sternly-worded letter demanding: "Moving forward do not make any further announcements on your site regarding network scheduling unless you receive notification from the network that scheduling is confirmed." It sounds like, otherwise, the network had been supportive of the site (and this didn't come backed up with any specific legal threat). However, it's still quite an amazing move for a "publicity" department to first demand that a site no longer write about stuff without confirmation, and then to later claim: "Clearing up your misperceptions of the show has become very time consuming and frankly takes away valuable time that could be spent actively marketing the series in the proper way." That's not exactly embracing the fan community.

Filed Under: control, dollhouse, dollverse, fan sites
Companies: fox

Britney Spears' Dad Using Copyright Claim To Stop Critical Fansite?

from the not-what-copyright-law-is-intended-for dept

Michael Scott points us to the news that a popular fansite of Britney Spears, called BreatheHeavy.com, has received a legal nastygram ordering the site to shut down, claiming that it infringed on numerous Britney copyrights by "posting Britney song lyrics, photos, videos and audio clips without permission." However, the owner of the site, Jordan Miller, claims that the nastygram has nothing to do with copyright, but is really about how Britney's father, Jamie Spears, is upset with Miller's site for criticizing the business structure of the Spears' family. If true (and, obviously, this is just one side of the story), it does seem like yet another attempt to use copyright to simply shut up a critic. Not surprisingly, that plan already seems to be backfiring, as this little mess is drawing a lot more attention to the story, rather than forcing it to go away.

Filed Under: britney spears, copyright, fan sites, jamie spears

Prince Threatens Fan Sites; Apparently He Didn't Get The Web As Much As We Thought

from the well-that's-disappointing dept

Over the last few years, there had been all sorts of indications that pop star Prince had actually figured out the economics that drive music. He'd run many different experiments on new business models, many of which involved embracing the basic economics we've discussed around here. He focused on performances and came up with ways to fund his creativity through new means. He recognized that his older catalog was promotional for all sorts of other things, and focused on constantly creating new music. Even the NY Times this summer had a detailed explanation for how Prince was embracing the economics of music to go beyond what others were doing. And then it all came crashing down. Prince sued sites like YouTube, eBay and the Pirate Bay for copyright infringement, focusing on the service provider rather than those who were actually infringing on the copyrights. While we hoped it was just a simple misunderstanding, it appears not. Prince has taken this campaign well beyond that, and is now threatening a bunch of fan sites for copyright infringement because they have photos of him and his album covers on their site. This is the type of thing we had thought went out of style in the late 90s when bands realized that fan sites are clearly only about helping you get more fans. It's quite disappointing that someone who seemed so close to figuring it all out has gone 180 degrees and passed the mantle of understanding music economics on to folks like Trent Reznor and Radiohead.

Filed Under: copyright, fan sites, music, prince