Sheriff Indicted For Evidence Tampering After Footage Of Deputies Killing An Unarmed Black Man Was Destroyed By Reality Show Producers

from the publicly-funded,-morally-bankrupt dept

It's probably time for Williamson County (TX) Sheriff Robert Chody to be voted out of office. Chody presides over a sheriff's office that has generated an amazing amount of controversy in a short period of time.

The sheriff's office invited A&E's "Live PD" to follow its deputies around as they enforced the law and, apparently, deployed plenty of excessive force. Figuring aggressive officers made for good TV, Chody began treating the hiring process as a casting call, ignoring candidates' checkered pasts if they appeared to be willing to terrorize perps and engage in high-speed pursuits.

This aggressive mindset was solidified by other supervisors in the Sheriff's Office. Deputies were allegedly given gift cards to local restaurants for deploying force during arrests. The supervisor behind the pay-for-pain scheme resigned after posting pictures depicting the kidnapping, rape, and multilation of a black football player (all staged with dolls) to his social media accounts.

During the "Live PD" days, Chody's aggressive deputies tased a black man to death during an arrest. Javier Ambler was stopped after a 22-minute low speed pursuit. Multiple officers tased Ambler as he told them he couldn't breathe and suffered from a heart condition. The footage captured by the Live PD camera crew was destroyed, according to A&E. (Body camera footage still survives.)

According to Live PD, this was part of the agreement it had with the Sheriff's Office, which allowed it to destroy unaired footage after 30 days unless it was needed for an investigation. It should have seemed clear an in-custody death would result in an investigation, but Live PD destroyed it anyway. A&E dumped the show shortly after that.

There's apparently more to this than some CYA-via-boilerplate. USA Today reports Sheriff Chody has been criminally-charged for his involvement in the destruction of the Live PD footage.

A Texas grand jury has indicted Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody on an evidence tampering charge in the destruction of reality TV show footage that showed deputies chasing and using force on a Black man who died last year.

Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick and Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore opened a joint investigation in June, a week after the Austin American-Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network, and KVUE-TV revealed details of Ambler’s death and reported that “Live PD” had destroyed its footage.

And there are possibly more criminal charges on the way. Chody is also facing the possibility of additional evidence tampering charges for another incident in another county the same night Ambler was killed by sheriff's deputies.

In addition, the former lawyer for the county, Jason Nassour, has been indicted on evidence tampering for his involvement in the Javier Ambler killing.

According to Live PD, it was Chody who told the show to destroy the footage.

“Live PD” host Dan Abrams said in television interviews and in a post on his website that sheriff’s officials initially asked producers to preserve the video. Two months after Ambler’s death, Chody told them the investigation was completed. At that point, Abrams said, producers destroyed the video.

Whatever the Sheriff's Office did to clear itself of wrongdoing wasn't the only investigation Chody (and Live PD) needed to contend with. Outside investigators from the Austin Police Department and Travis County prosecutors were allegedly stonewalled by both the Sheriff and Live PD when they asked for copies of the footage. These investigations are still ongoing and Sheriff Chody certainly was aware of outside investigations when he instructed Live PD to destroy the footage.

Indictments are easy to obtain if prosecutors have any interest in obtaining them. It will take a court to make these stick and it's awfully difficult to hang criminal charges on law enforcement officers. But there's enough circumstantial evidence pointing to Chody being the wrong person for the job. Sheriffs wield a lot of power. And Chody appears to have abused his since day one.

Filed Under: evidence, excessive force, jason nassour, javier ambler, live pd, reality tv, robert chody, tampering, texas, williamson county

USMC Entertainment Liaison Not About To Let The Marines' Good Name Be Dragged Down By 'Low-Culture' Reality TV

from the save-that-shit-for-the-Army dept

Spy Culture has done it again. It has obtained over 1,600 pages of reports from the Marine Corps' entertainment liaison office -- a satisfying follow-up to the 1,300 pages it snagged from the Army's office.

Once again, there's tons of duplication, thanks to iterative updates that add very little to previous versions of the same report. The Marine Corps seems less gung ho about praising every project it's attached to than the Army, but still finds most of the projects presented to it to be agreeable.

There are exceptions, of course.

“NCIS-Investigation” – Discovery Channel: Discovery Channel program which details NCIS. They wanted to cover the case of [redacted] , a Marine who murdered a Marine spouse and conspired to have legal members assassinated. [Redacted] is currently serving life in prison. Episode is cancelled due to [redacted] case pending another appeal. Producers are now looking at case of [redacted], a Marine who murdered Susette Bluing in 1978. Due to subject, Marine Corps may decline support.

Probably a sensible decision, considering the possible legal ramifications. What doesn't make sense is the office's redaction of the name of Susette Bluing's killer, Michael Johnson. Of course, this may be the result of software automatically stripping names or an across-the-board redaction policy, rather than a misguided attempt to bury information already made public.

The same thing happened during the discussion of a project the Marine Corps does support: a film about Michael Strobl, a volunteer military escort officer who accompanied the body of killed-in-action Chance Phelps back to his hometown.

"Taking Chance" – HBO Films: HBO produced an original film about [redacted's] experience serving as an escort officer for the body of Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps. Release date on HBO is expected to be sometime in January or February 2009. Show has been scheduled to premiere on HBO, 21 February at 8 pm. LAPAO is attending local screening on 16 Jan. The screening at Twentynine Palms is scheduled for 17 February. Date for Dover AFB screening is pending. Currently awaiting VIP guest list from Marine Corps museum and HBO.

Here are a few projects the Marine Corps had "concerns" with:

“Ru Paul’s Drag U” – Logo Television: RuPaul's Drag U is an American reality television series where everyday women compete in a series of challenges to unleash their inner diva. Initial request came to LA PA for support and was denied due to not keeping with Marine Corps traits. LA PA informed the production that casting could be conducted, but no filming could take place aboard base and military participants cannot discuss their affiliation with their individual branch of service. Two Marines from CPEN contacted LA PA to determine if they were eligible. I MEF PA was informed about USMC concerns and provided guidelines for participation. The two Marines elected not to participate.

“Combat Outpost: Afghanistan” AKA “Afghanistan: The Surge” – PBS: Hodierne Productions LLC produced a character-driven documentary about Marines serving in Afghanistan. The two-hour film focused on Marines and corpsmen from 2nd Platoon, A Co., 2/1. The producer was embedded during the company's 7-month deployment to Helmand province. LA PA reviewed rough cut on 9 April and had major concerns with both the message behind the film and multiple OPSEC violations. Overall intent behind the movie seemed to be a condemnation of policy and of the USMC’s mission in Afghanistan. The overall tone was failure and hopelessness despite the efforts of the Marines and Navy corpsmen. LA PA is re-engaging Production Company to discuss rough cut corrections.

[Rightly concerned if recordings captured "multiple OPSEC violations." However, anything off about the "message" would seemingly be similarly self-inflicted...]

The Fighting Season Documentary: Ricky Schroder Productions documentary that will profile deployed Marines with Regional Command Southwest while conducting operations in Afghanistan. Army is the DoD service lead, a signed PAA is in place. Coordination with RC-SW has been made and a USMC-specific addendum has been signed by all parties involved. Update: concerns at OSD regarding the production company’s financial condition.

And here are a few of the requests the Marine Corps entertainment office listed as "DENIED," leading off with the "concerning" RuPaul.

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” – Reality show requested female Marines to place contestants through a mini boot camp with makeovers and gown dresses as prizes for the Marines. The contestants (not Marines) would be dressed in drag for the show. Request denied 28 July due to not reflecting upon Marine Corps’ values and the possibility of discrediting the Corps.

“Fat Free Fiances” – Style Network: Requested to "challenge" one of their couples to go through a Camp Pendleton obstacle course. The production would not further the American public's understanding of the Marine Corps' core values, roles and/or missions...

The USMC is apparently not as taken in by "reality programming" as the rest of the country (or the Army) is. Several denials await for bottom-of-the-barrel programming. And who knew motorcycle safety was such a concern?

“MTV’s Nitro Circus” – MTV: Producers of the show, which features champion motorsports competitor Travis Pastrana and his crew of “top action sports athlete buddies,” contacted us requesting to shoot an episode on Camp Pendleton. They wanted to perform myriad dangerous stunts and low-culture antics in concert with military members, and they requested access to several areas on the base, military equipment including a tank, and personnel including at least one drill instructor. We denied the request based on the obvious conflict of interests with the hot topic of motorcycle safety in the Marine Corps.

“Shore Patrol”—Sony Pictures: Producers met with liaisons to discuss possibility of covering service members on liberty in foreign ports. Due to risk of embarrassment to service members and host nations, all branches denied support.

THESE VEHICLES ARE EARMARKED FOR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, SIR!

"Cut in Half" – Spike TV: Producers of this show cut large vehicles straight down the middle and give viewers an intimate look at and knowledge of the guts of the vehicle. CGI and narrative are used in addition to the actual cut-in-half portion. Producers contacted LA PAO requesting to cut a Marine Corps vehicle – past or present. LA PAO turned down the request after speaking with Mr. Martin Durette at Fleet Support Division in Barstow. Mr. Durette advised that all “retired” or damaged vehicles are subject to rehabilitation on some level and cannot be cut in half.

“Megadrive” – MTV: This brand new series would feature host Johnny Pemberton, an inexperienced young man learning how to operate “Mega vehicles.” He would relate to the target audience in a way never before explored by other extreme vehicle programs. Producers asked if we could let their host drive and fire an Abrams tank, drive an MRAP and fire a Javelin rocket at a car. LA PA denied request based on the low-brow nature of the programming and the fact that it would be a gross misuse of DoD assets.

"The USMC's entertainment office has reviewed your script and has determined it sucks. Hard."

Dancin’ in Iraq – Rossi Filmworks: Scriptwriter Mike Rossi sent over the script for review. Film centers on a crew of Navy nurses in Baghdad who start a dance troupe to “stay sane.” Script is abysmal. The dance troupe is actually a small, virtually insignificant subplot. The central plot focuses on a romance between a Marine commanding officer of a “combat hospital” in Baghdad and his XO, a Navy Lt. Cmdr. LA PAO advised writer we will not be supporting due to various plot lines.

This postscript added the following month indicates Mr. Mike Rossi is not receptive to criticism.

Mr. Rossi contacted LA PAO by email after the request was declined. His verbal threats were considered unfounded and all other branches were notified accordingly.

And yet, throughout the 1,669 pages, the USMC never once notes what "opposing forces" it would find acceptable.

“Red Dawn” – MGM: Producer, Tripp Vinson, forwarded the treatment for the remake of the 1984 film. LA PAO has reviewed the script and will not support in accordance with DoD Entertainment Office reply unless production is willing to change the opposing forces in the script.

While explained in more detail the following month, for thirty days all anyone knew was any Lyman project was off-limits.

Tucia Lyman’s project.

Marines' pocket contents: officially unexciting.

“Modern Marvels: What’s in Your Pocket” – Producers wanted to talk to Marines about what tools, gadgets and aids they carry around in the pockets of their combat uniforms and then go into the factories that make those products. LA PA denied support for this particular concept because of the unlikelihood that the contents of a Marine’s utilities would be particularly compelling or enhance public understanding of the Corps.

Marine recruiters are not to be mocked, nor asked to participate in frivolous escapades.

“Dough” – Independent producers requested our support for an unscripted, improvisational comedy involving a pizza deliverer wanting to improve his life. There is a scene where the antagonist visits a Marine Corps recruiter and decides to not join the Marine Corps. LAPAO denied their request because there is no distribution and recruiters are not actors, nor do they do improv.

“Mitchel, Mitchel, Mitchel and Mitchel” – Producers wanted to use a Marine recruiting office to film a scene in which military recruiters agree to illegally enlist a bum in place of one of the privileged, upper class main characters. LA PA denied support because of the mischaracterization of recruiters.

For those who play games more frequently than they watch terrible TV shows, the USMC has been involved in several video game projects.

Operation Flashpoint 2
29 vehicles provided for sound recordings

Update:
"No formal support is being offered to Operation Flashpoint 2 due to anti-China sentiment."

Doom 4
Weapons familiarization and tactics

Six Days in Fallujah
Unknown form of "support" pre-approved, then rescinded as game's negative publicity increased

Ace Combat
Assets and footage

Fallout: New Vegas
Sound recordings of demolitions

Halo: Reach
Sound/visuals of an MV-22 Osprey

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Footage for CGI purposes, possible inclusion of Marine Corps in game

"Call of Duty 5"
"footage and sound of [military] exercise"

Update:
"Company would like access to a Tank, and LCAC, and a C-130."

Modern Warfare 4
Audio/video of interior/exterior of USMC air and ground vehicles

Bad Company 3
Dialogue touch-up for radio protocols

“Unknown” – Sega of America
"A lawyer with Sega of America requested to use the trademarked Eagle, Globe and Anchor as part of their mechanized robot video game. LA PA is currently waiting for an English version of the treatment and script."

Update:
"LA PA reviewed the script and denied support because a Marine major is a central villain. LA PA also provided guidance to the developer from the Marine Corps Trademark and Licensing Office, clarifying what designs and words can and can’t be used in the game."

Madden pro football offering, however, was not one of them, what with a Marine "going rogue" and breaking the USMC's "no endorsement" policy.

“Madden” –EA Sports: A Marine from First Recon had been working with an advertising agency to do a commercial for the game. Contacted both the Advertising Agency and the Division/MEF PAOs to tell them that we will not be supporting this production.

Overall, the USMC's entertainment liaison reports are far less exuberant about the possibility of TV and movies being used to spread the good word about the armed forces. In its more restrained way, the Marine Corps still only assists with projects that portray the military branch in a favorable light and, like other agencies, is often given draft versions of scripts to ensure it doesn't open itself up to spending tax dollars on content that might reflect badly on it.

It also seems to have a very good handle on its internal policies -- namely, that it cannot be used in any fashion to appear to promote a service, product or entertainment offering. There's nothing in this report that suggests overt efforts to assist in the crafting of pro-military propaganda, but neither is there anything that suggests the USMC will approach less-than-favorable portrayals with an open mind. (For more details on how much control the US military has over the entertainment industry, Spy Culture's Tom Secker has written a very interesting and detailed post on the subect.)

Filed Under: approvals, marine corps, reality tv

DailyDirt: People In Space

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Hundreds of thousands of people have already applied for a one-way ticket to Mars for the Mars One program to establish a human colony on the red planet by 2023. Funding for Mars One is expected to come from a reality TV show as well as sponsorships and donations -- and even IP licensing from any technology it develops along the way. Mars One appears to have collected over $150,000 in donations so far, so there's at least some interest in the concept (though the total cost for a Mars trip could easily be billions). Here are just a few more links on some other plans to get humans into space.

• The odds of vasts amounts of ice existing on the moon are looking pretty grim. Without a significant amount of ice on the moon, potential lunar colonies would have to bring their own water -- and that would make it a lot more expensive to live on the moon. [url]
• Mark Burnett has been pitching a reality TV show for putting contestants into space since the late 1990s, even selling a show called Destination Mir to NBC in 2000. Burnett's latest space-themed reality show would put an ordinary person on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo. [url]
• Sony Pictures Television is launching a reality TV show on Dutch broadcaster Nederland 1 called Milky Way Mission that will have (local Dutch) celebrities competing for a seat on an XCOR spaceplane via the Space Expedition Corporation's (SXC) space airline. The first season will have eight 1-hr episodes that will might end in a blast off to an altitude of 340,000 feet. [url]
• Objective Europa is an ambitious manned exploration project that aims to put people on an icy moon of Jupiter. The organizers plan to crowdfund a one-way trip to Europa, and these astronauts would face certain death even if they managed to reach Jupiter's moon. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: astronauts, colony, crowdfunding, destination mir, europa, jupiter, manned exploration, mark burnett, mars one, milky way mission, moon, reality tv, space
Companies: sony pictures television, sxc, xcor

Because Some People Share A Lot Of Info On Facebook, We Should Admit We've Given Up All Privacy Rights?

from the really-now? dept

While I don't always agree with Frank Rich, he often does write thoughtful pieces on various current events, but his recent piece arguing that "privacy has jumped the shark," and that Ed Snowden's revelations are no big deal because people don't care about privacy, is a complete train wreck. The basic argument is that because some people share lots of things on Facebook, and other people go on reality TV, it means that no one cares about privacy any more.

The truth is that privacy jumped the shark in America long ago. Many of us not only don’t care about having our privacy invaded but surrender more and more of our personal data, family secrets, and intimate yearnings with open eyes and full hearts to anyone who asks and many who don’t, from the servers of Fortune 500 corporations to the casting directors of reality-television shows to our 1.1 billion potential friends on Facebook. Indeed, there’s a considerable constituency in this country—always present and now arguably larger than ever—that’s begging for its privacy to be invaded and, God willing, to be exposed in every gory detail before the largest audience possible.

Except, that conflates a variety of different issues. Yes, some people choose to share some information about their lives in a very public way. And, certainly, some people think that others "overshare." But, in all of those cases, it's generally the person themselves choosing what information to share and how it's shared. They may want to share lots of information that others would want to be kept private, but nothing in that suggests that Americans do not value their privacy.

It's a hack argument.

He spends many paragraphs going on about the rise of reality TV, never bothering to note that very few people actually appear on reality TV, and an awful lot of people in the public, even those who religiously watch reality TV, would probably have no actual interest in appearing on one of those shows. Part of the appeal is the fact that you get to watch those idiots who seem to not have recognized the typical boundaries that prevent oversharing. Anyone suggesting, as Rich appears to do, that Americans get their beliefs on privacy from how the Robertsons from Duck Dynasty live, or how the Kardashian clan spends their time has a really warped sense of the American public.

Rich's piece then goes on with the old argument about how anyone who paid attention already knew about this NSA spying. But that's simply not true. Many, many people suspected it and pointed to hints and scraps of information that indicated it was going on. But the response from the media was generally that there wasn't enough proof to support those claims, or they were so far out to be in tinfoil hat territory. Snowden's leaks have done a hell of a lot to reveal the actual details, including the deception of public officials -- and the failure of the media to be diligent in getting to the bottom of this story.

Privacy is not an easy issue, and there's a lot of nuance. To argue that because some people choose to reveal some things, we should all just shut up about actual privacy violations by the government is ridiculous.

Filed Under: frank rich, privacy, reality tv, social media, surveillance

District Attorney And Major TV Network Sued Over Stupid Reality Show

from the campaigning-through-reality dept

The most tragically stupid decision was greenlighting a reality show about lawyers. No one cares about watching real-life lawyering. That’s why Nancy Grace exists — to boil salacious cases down to sound bites so viewers don’t have to watch real lawyers.

But almost as stupid was greenlighting a show about a district attorney on the eve of an election and not expecting to run afoul of campaign finance laws.

Imagine running against an incumbent armed with a glossy, major network reality show constantly hyping his effectiveness in office. In the context of a district attorney election, imagine having to run against Adam Schiff after everyone watched a Law & Order marathon.

If that seems unfair, one challenger agrees with you…

The Kings County D.A. election is coming up in September. Well, technically, the Democratic primary is coming up in September, but this is Brooklyn, so that’s really the only election that matters — the Democratic nominee got 99.98% of the vote in the general last time.

Incumbent Charles Hynes is set to star as a real-life Adam Schiff in the upcoming CBS reality show, “Brooklyn D.A.” Basically, watch Cops and then this show and you’ve made yourself a crass, exploitative, reality show version of Law & Order. Since half of the “stars” of this new reality show — based on the tip of Long Island — will be defendants facing time in the state pen, it brings new meaning to being “voted off the island.” It’s kind of “Survivor: Borough Hall”

The show is described in CBS press materials thusly:

“Created by veteran CBS News producer Patti Aronofsky, ‘Brooklyn D.A.’ follows the men and women of the Kings County District Attorney’s Office as they juggle more than 1,000 cases a week,” a press release states. “These hard-charging prosecutors have larger-than-life personalities both inside the courtroom and out. They’re eccentric and living right on the edge. They’re the people living the lives that Hollywood loves to write about.”

Well, that sounds gag-inducing. The promise of “larger-than-life personalities” is going to flop when the audience has to watch 40 minutes of jury selection.

Challenger Abe George does not like it one bit. He’s sued Hynes, the Hynes campaign committee, and CBS in New York County Supreme Court. Hynes is already preparing the “Abe George doesn’t even trust Kings County courts for his own lawsuits — how can we trust him as Kings County D.A.?” ad. George argues that the series is an improper gift to Hynes, granting him free advertising on a major network in advance of the election.

CBS countered:

CBS News spokeswoman Sonya McNair told Courthouse News that George should brush up on the Bill of Rights.

“We are surprised that this candidate would not know about the First Amendment,” McNair said in a statement. “This is obviously a publicity push by a politician.”

This is a poor PR move. The snarky tone and derisive statements about George as a candidate don’t do CBS any favors in a lawsuit where the network is trying to prove that they are NOT willing cheerleaders for the Hynes campaign.

Speaking of poor PR decisions, according to the complaint, Hynes described the impact of the show on the election to Reuters, saying, “if they couldn’t take me out then, boy, you’ll never take me out now.” *Facepalm*

CBS argues that the program is a news documentary and therefore escapes NY campaign finance laws that might apply if the program were a reality show produced for entertainment. And CBS has carefully marketed the show as a news program:

George claims that reply was disingenuous, given how CBS marketed the show on March 27.

“A new reality show will give us an inside look into the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office,” the press release stated, according to the complaint.

“CBS also expressly categorized its announcement on the website under ‘Entertainment.’ This website is still available as of the date of this complaint.

*Double facepalm*

CBS and Hynes may still be able to escape NY campaign finance laws based on Citizens United, which set the table for invalidating the journalistic exception in the new corporate free-for-all of electioneering. If drawing lines between media corporations and regular corporations violates equal protection, then CBS is free to campaign all it wants for Hynes.

And if that’s the case, might I suggest CBS can get started on a reality show following newly announced NYC mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner. They can call it, “Look At My Weiner.”

District Attorney Candidate Claims Incumbent’s ‘Reality Show’ Is a Gift [Courthouse News Service]
Campaigning as the Press: Citizens United and the Problem of Press Exemptions in Law [Nexus]

More stories from Above The Law

• How A Tech Giant Proposes To Charge You For Having Friends
• Which Supreme Court Justice Are You?
• Paranoid Attorneys Ask Prudence For Advice

Filed Under: campaigns, new york, reality tv

CBS Mocks Its Own Failed Copyright Lawsuit By Sarcastically Announcing New 'Completely Original' Show 'Dancing On The Stars'

from the the-snark-is-strong-with-this-one dept

A few weeks back, we wrote about a silly lawsuit from CBS, arguing that it could basically hold the copyright on some of the most basic concepts in reality TV. CBS was suing ABC, because ABC was about to put on Glass House, which was similar to CBS's Big Brother. Of course, this is the nature of TV and most people deal with it. You can't copyright an idea (or so we're told) but that doesn't seem to stop big companies from pretending otherwise. Here, at least, the judge wasn't convinced. He refused to issue an injunction blocking the showing of Glass House, and noted that it certainly looked like the ideas were different:

"I think is very likely to induce quite different behavior than one would expect to see in the 'Big Brother' show."

CBS had put out a statement saying that it would keep fighting the lawsuit, but apparently it decided on another way to fight this as well: by snarky press release. In something that honestly reads like it was meant for April Fool's Day (and caused many people to wonder if CBS's system had been hacked), the company put out a mocking and sarcastic press release supposedly announcing a "groundbreaking and completely original new reality program" called Dancing on the Stars. Here's the full press release:

CBS ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT OF “DANCING ON THE STARS,” AN EXCITING AND COMPLETELY ORIGINAL REALITY PROGRAM THAT OWES ITS CONCEPT AND EXECUTION TO NOBODY AT ALL

Los Angeles, June 20, 2012 – Subsequent to recent developments in the creative and legal community, CBS Television today felt it was appropriate to reveal the upcoming launch of an exciting, groundbreaking and completely original new reality program for the CBS Television Network.

The dazzling new show, DANCING ON THE STARS, will be broadcast live from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and will feature moderately famous and sort of well-known people you almost recognize competing for big prizes by dancing on the graves of some of Hollywood’s most iconic and well-beloved stars of stage and screen.

The cemetery, the first in Hollywood, was founded in 1899 and now houses the remains of Andrew “Fatty” Arbuckle, producer Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Paul Muni, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, George Harrison of the Beatles and Dee Dee Ramone of the Ramones, among many other great stars of stage, screen and the music business. The company noted that permission to broadcast from the location is pending, and that if efforts in that regard are unsuccessful, approaches will be made to Westwood Village Memorial Park, where equally scintillating luminaries are interred.

“This very creative enterprise will bring a new sense of energy and fun that’s totally unlike anything anywhere else, honest,” said a CBS spokesperson, who also revealed that the Company has been working with a secret team for several months on the creation of the series, which was completely developed by the people at CBS independent of any other programming on the air. “Given the current creative and legal environment in the reality programming business, we’re sure nobody will have any problem with this title or our upcoming half-hour comedy for primetime, POSTMODERN FAMILY.”

“After all,” the spokesperson added, “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

Yeah, that last sentence might push this one a bit far over the top, don't you think? This is the kind of response that people have and joke about internally. They don't release it to the world. I will grant you that it's amusing, but it also seems pretty petulant for a company having lost the basic argument in its lawsuit. If it really is going to fight on with this lawsuit, perhaps so publicly mocking the judge who ruled against you isn't such a good idea.

Filed Under: big brother, glass house, reality tv, television
Companies: abc, cbs

Musicians Realizing They Don't Need Major Labels Anymore

from the hello,-kickstarter dept

Music reality TV has become a key feeding ground for the major labels lately. Shows like American Idol, the Voice, X Factor and the like seem to be where the labels have been picking up some of their bigger name stars lately -- allowing the shows to help build up an initial following and then picking off the stars with typical record label deals. Except... it appears that some of those musicians are realizing that they don't need the labels any more. Jordis Unga, a singer who has appeared on two reality TV shows (Rock Star: INXS and The Voice), has decided that she doesn't need to sign a label deal. While she didn't win on either show, she did build up quite a following, and she decided that for her debut album, she might as well just hit up Kickstarter, and ask for $33,000. Which she got. In less than a day. In the first day alone her project on Kickstarter raised over $50,000.

Now, perhaps some will complain that she is now beholden to her fans, but that seems a lot better than being beholden to a multinational conglomerate who claims all ownership and control of your work. Others, quite reasonably, will point out that she built up some of this following by being on two prime time network national TV shows. That's absolutely true. No one is saying that the trick to being a successful musician today is to just go on reality TV. But the point is that if you can build up a following -- in any way possible -- the need for a record label diminishes. And there are more and more and more ways to build up that audience today. If the labels aren't worried about these alternatives, they're not paying very much attention.

Filed Under: american idol, jordis unga, reality tv, the voice, x factor
Companies: kickstarter

Can 'Reality' Be Copyrighted?

from the and-even-if-it-can,-should-it? dept

If there's one area of entertainment where originality is seemingly actively discouraged, it would be television. As soon as one particular formula proves itself to be a hit, TV producers begin circling the bandwagons, cranking out imitation after imitation. Rarely has this constant exercise in the "sincerest form of flattery" resulted in a legal battle, but that may all change with an upcoming ruling in a lawsuit filed by Japan's Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), alleging that "ABC and Wipeout producer Endemol set out to replicate the TBS shows (namely Takeshi's Castle, Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (MXC), Sasuke and Ninja Warrior), lifted popular components and even sought to manipulate Google into sending traffic for search terms 'Takeshi's Castle' and 'Ninja Warrior' to a Wipeout-sponsored link."

ABC's lawyers have argued that TV history is littered with a long line of obstacle-course competitions, dating back to the BBC's It's A Knockout, which ran during the '60s, stating that TBS "remarkably claims copyright protection in obstacles and obstacle concepts ubiquitous in the public domain, such as 'rope swings,' 'mechanical bulls' and 'pole vaults.'" If there's nothing "unique" (and that's become a very slippery word), then TBS has no legal claim to these elements.

However, ABC executive Howard Davine may have laid some inadvertent groundwork for TBS' lawyers. A leaked memo from 2008 shows that he actively encouraged producers to skirt licensing foreign programs if possible when creating "new" shows for ABC:

"Not helping matters was a leaked 2008 memo from ABC executive vp Howard Davine, urging execs and showrunners to "carefully scrutinize" whether licensing foreign formats was "necessary or appropriate" before going forward with similar shows, especially when they might only be interested in the "general, underlying premise."

This, in turn, fired up another rights protection group, the Format Recognition and Protection Association, who responded by encouraging producers to help themselves to the "underlying premises" behind ABC/Disney IP, namely Hannah Montana and Mickey Mouse.

The ruling may change the game considerably for producers of reality programs who have shown a preference for "me too" programming with little legal backlash. (Our new favorite metaphoric term for "uncluttered by legislation/legal battles" makes a reappearance): 

Owing to what might be a knee-jerk reaction against protecting the creativity in a genre dubbed "reality," as well as a lack of clarity in copyright law, many producers believe there is a Wild West mentality in the unscripted world that has given rise to a culture of rampant, unlicensed borrowing. 

But does everything need to be licensed? Or are we fine with certain aspects of television being accepted tropes, rather than actionable IP? After all, it's not as if any one producer can claim ownership of Detectives Solving Crimes or Three Cameras and a Laugh Track or even Ghost Hunter Hunts Ghosts. If they're really going to sort this out into compartmentable pieces of litigation, every detective show ever is going to be paying royalties to the estate of Edgar Allan Poe. Even more to the point, defenders of copyright continually tell us that "ideas" aren't covered by copyright -- and yet, clearly, that seems to be what everyone's up in arms about here.

Of course, this doesn't stop The Hollywood Reporter from stating, yes, do exactly that when it comes to making sure that these kinds of "ideas" are covered by the law. 

In a genre where the traditional plot and character aspects of scripted works have been replaced by unique formats, the law might need to evolve to protect the creativity that informs this powerful segment of the TV world.

Maybe. But my gut feeling is the only thing "evolving" will be various IP law firms, rather than television itself.

(Hat tip to Mr. LemurBoy for sending this in.)

Filed Under: copyright, reality, reality tv

Reality Show Sued For Copying Idea

from the idea-vs.-expression dept

Apparently there's a "highly anticipated" reality show coming soon to US TV called My Parents Are Gonna Love You, in which contestants on the show bring a celebrity home to meet their parents, claiming the two are engaged. There's some sort of contest involved in how long the "couple" can keep family convinced that the relationship is real. Sounds... painful. However, the producers are now being sued for copyright infringement by the producers of an Italian reality show that had a somewhat (though not exactly) similar idea.

Of course, we're always told (aren't we?) by copyright system defenders that copyright only extends to the specific expression, not the idea. It seems pretty clear that this lawsuit is claiming the "idea" was copied. So now we'll get to see if the courts really do recognize that there is supposed to be an idea/expression dichotomy in copyright law...

Filed Under: copying, ideas, reality tv

Can You Own The Idea Of A Reality Show For Moms Picking Brides For Their Sons?

from the ownership-society dept

I have to admit that I don't watch reality TV or follow what's the latest in reality TV shows. I hear people talking about them, but it seems like half of them blend together with something about models who sing while cooking and designing fashions for eligible bachelors as an angry British guy yells at them and they hope they don't get voted off the island. Sometimes Donald Trump appears. Or something like that. So I had no idea that there's a yet another reality TV show out there on NBC called Mamma's Boy that apparently involves overbearing mothers trying to pick out potential brides for sons who apparently are unable to cut the apron strings. Sounds pretty horrific to me.

However, there was apparently a lawsuit over this one, as the guy who produces a Turkish reality TV show called Perfect Bride tried to stop NBC from airing Mamma's Boy, claiming that he holds a copyright on the entire concept of mothers and sons trying to pick out a bride (found via IPMaven). The guy claims he was trying to license the idea to a competitor of NBC, and allowing NBC's show to air would endanger those negotiations. Luckily, a court wasted little time (almost none at all) in denying the injunction, noting that there seemed to be very little likelihood that the guy would succeed in his case. Still, the case moves forward, and it's yet another symptom of a culture that has lead people to believe that you can own ideas, and anyone else who comes up with a similar idea (or, hell, improves on your bad idea) somehow owes you money.

Filed Under: copyright, ownership, reality tv