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007 Dis(Gold)members Austin Powers

Posted by Roblimo on from the submitted-over-and-over dept.

gpinzone writes, "MGM and Danjaq, the British company that controls the Bond film license, have obtained a cease-and-desist order against New Line Cinema that prohibits New Line from calling the latest installment of Mike Myers' shagadelic spy series Austin Powers in Goldmember . The full article is available from E!-Online."

12 of 327 comments (clear)

  1. Precedent by sql*kitten · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Weird how they're upset about this, but allowed "The Spy Who Shagged Me". I thought that satire counted as fair use of copyrighted material?

    1. Re:Precedent by Oink.NET · · Score: 5, Informative
      They got upset about "The Spy Who Shagged Me" too, and were rewarded for it. You can bet they'll try that trick again!


      From a Yahoo story: MGM initially challenged the use of "The Spy Who Shagged Me," an obvious play on the 1977 Bond title "The Spy Who Loved Me." But that dispute was settled when New Line agreed to include trailer play for MGM movies on its Austin Powers sequel.

  2. In related news by J.D.+Hogg · · Score: 5, Funny
    MGM and Danjaq, the British company that controls the Bond film license, have obtained a cease-and-desist order against New Line Cinema that prohibits New Line from calling the latest installment of Mike Myers' shagadelic spy series Austin Powers in Goldmember. As a preventive measure, they also obtained a cease-and-desist order barring New Line from using their following planned movie titles :

    - Austin Powers: Dr Yes!!!
    - Austin Powers: From Russia with Lovers
    - Austin Powers: Thunderballs
    - Austin Powers: You Only Live for Shag
    - Austin Powers: On Her Majesty's secret Lover's List
    - Austin Powers: Diamonds Are For Minks
    - Austin Powers: Live and Let's Shag
    - Austin Powers: The Man with the Golden Bum
    - Austin Powers: Moonraiser
    - Austin Powers: OctuplePussy
    - Austin Powers: A View to A Shag
    - Austin Powers: License to Shag
    - Austin Powers: Tomorrow Never Bites (hard)
    - Austin Powers: Never Say Lover again

  3. Goldmember by Metrollica · · Score: 5, Informative

    Other articles:
    Movies.go.com
    Yahoo
    BBC news
    CNN

    From CNN: Rappers 2 Live Crew, for example, took their use of the Roy Orbison song "Pretty Woman" all the way to the Supreme Court, which then reached the explicit conclusion that a parody falls within the scope of the fair-use defense. It would, however, be impossible to market the film as "Goldmember" during that process.

    --



    --Metrollica
  4. This is a good thing. by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 5, Funny

    Because Austin Powers is so confusingly similar to James Bond, and penises are so confusingly similar to fingers.

    - A.P.

    --
    "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
  5. double entedre by Stillman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apparently, the 007 folks weren't too keen on the double entendre of Goldmember


    Hmmm...I realise this may be a poor choice of words on behalf of the writer of the article, but if not, the people who gave us "Pussy Galore" and "Ivana Onatopp" better not be whining about use of double entendre!

    --
    Prisoner #655321
  6. Read all about it by Rogerborg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For the benefit of the hordes who will post "I thought satire/fair use yadda yadda yadda", don't speculate, go and read about it.

    There is a specific codification of fair use for parody or satire, but satire alone is not automatically enough to protect you.

    The factors relevant to this case are:

    • Commercial/non commercial. Goldmember is a commercial production. This counts against it.
    • Nature of work. Goldmember is "creative" rather than "informational". This counts against it.
    • Amount of copyrighted work used. Probably just a small member. This counts for it.
    • Effect on potential market or value of the copyrighted work. Minimal, I'd have thought. Goldmember won't compete directly with Goldfinger, nor will it cheapen a franchise that includes characters like Pussy Galore and Dr Goodhead. This counts for it.

    Prima facia, it's about 50-50. Mike is trading on someone else's idea for profit, but in a small way compared to his original content. Using the character in the title was rather asking for it though. Mel Brooks got away with that, and with significant use of Star Wars material in Spaceballs, because he also parodied at least another 21 sources, and used his borrowed characters to perform a fair amount of critical commentary ("moichandising, moichandising").

    Remember that but fair use is an exception to the law, and as Mike is clear about where he's taking his material from, it really is up to him to prove his innocence. He shouldn't have much trouble doing so, and this is likely just a well timed gambit to land a quick out of court settlement, one that the Goldmember people really should have anticipated and prepared for. But heck, it lands them free publicity, so the only losers here are a few PR executives.

    (Incidentally, I agree with other posters that this article really is -1 Offtopic. If we really care IP issues, then why not run my submission on how all the sound and fury about IP on Slashdot has failed to translate into actual support for the WIPOUT essay competition. For gods' sake, all you have to do is CC your usual Slashdot rants to them!).

    --
    If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  7. And already the recalled poster are on ebay by Cyberllama · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And approaching 100 dollars each in the bids!

  8. New character suggestion... by ectoraige · · Score: 5, Funny

    Whatever way it turns out, I think Mr Myers should add a new character called 'Emgi M. Sucks' :)

    --
    Vs lbh pna ernq guvf, ybt bss abj. Tb bhgfvqr. Syl n xvgr.
  9. Re:A thought parodies were protected ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ah, but Weird Al can't release the parodies without permission from the song's owner.

    Actually, he can. It's his own decision to not release those parodies that haven't been approved by the original artist.

  10. Re:Fingers by petej · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...as I recently discovered while scratching my nose. No, wait!...

  11. Slashtard Bingo by grytpype · · Score: 5, Insightful

    OK, I've got DMCA and MPAA, all I need is RMS, SSSCA, and a software patent to commplete the row...

    --

    - Have a picture