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Discovery Threatens Fan Site It Also Promotes
An anonymous reader writes "It seems the lawyers and the marketing people at The Discovery Channel don't talk to each other much. The marketing people behind the show 'The Deadliest Catch' have been supporting a fan community called DeadliestCatchTV.com for a while now. They've regularly sent the site info, free clips, previews and information about the show. On top of that, they link to it from the official site, including it in a list of 'fan sites' as a part of the 'Discovery Network,' and even will frame the site with the show's own dashboard for those who click through. Discovery's lawyers, on the other hand, have threatened to sue the site out of existence and have demanded that the owner hand over the domain name — which he is going to do, because he doesn't have the money to fight this. While there may be a trademark issue (which could be easily resolved with a free license), the lawyers are also making the ridiculous argument that posting the videos Discovery sent him to post are copyright infringement. They're also claiming that embedding the official Discovery Channel YouTube videos (which have embedding turned on) is copyright infringement. This is exactly how you turn lots of fans into people who hate your entire channel."
Ain't it fun? You can ruin almost anything with it.
Each department is doing it's job well. Upper management is responsible for overseeing and coordinating departments into a cohesive whole.
Guess who failed?
"You want to know how to help your kids? Leave them the fuck alone." -George Carlin
1) Looks like they're "discovering" how to piss of their fans
2) This is what you get by obsessing over a show as pointless as "Deadliest Catch". Oh wait, this one is not a joke. This is karma.
Err, *they* can't be sued
Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.
--Gordon Gekko, speaking the Mantra of unbridled capitalism. Greed may not get the outright worship it got when Wall Street came out, but many still consider greed to be a positive thing.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
I think the whole channel has jumped the shark. I'd rather read a book.
For that to matter you'd need a court system in which facing a copyright infringement suit without spending tens of thousands in legal representation is doable.
Unfortunately, to even get it that far, you've got to get a lawyer to say basically what you just said.
Welcome to justice-by-checkbook.
You're right. Now do you have $100,000 to get it in front of a judge?
Increasingly in this country justice is the exclusive possession of the rich.
Too bad it will never see a judge because the owner of the site in question decided to acquiesce Discovery's C&D rather than go to court. I'm sure there will be posters who will bemoan the fact that he's "taking it in the ass" or "abandoning the principle of the matter" or other such nonsense. I never begrudge anybody for making a legal decision based on their own situation. Lawyers aren't cheap, and at the end of the day I can't think of any hobbies I have where I'd be willing to front thousands of dollars I don't have and years of stress just to make a point when the end result will be either:
1. I win, and now have the right to continue to maintain a fan site for a show that's either now out of existence (by the time the case is concluded) or that I absolutely despise after what the company put me through.
2. I lose, and go bankrupt.
I think the owner is doing the best thing he can here - he's giving in without spending a cent but he's generating a lot of negative publicity in the process.
As an aside someone should report all of Discovery's Youtube videos because they are not adhering to Youtube's terms of use.
The Discovery Channel has really disappointed me. It used to be that they put out good, educational television shows. Now, they've added all kinds of extra drama to shows to supposedly make them more interesting but in reality they have a dumbed down appearance. Now, they also have gone the reality tv route. I fail to see how Deadliest Catch really teaches us anything - it is really only drama. I remember when TLC and DSC really had good educational shows that could captivate thinking audiences without all the bleeped out cursing and melodramatic garbage. It would seem that the last of the truly informative and educational shows are on PBS.
I'm glad you've been successful at representing yourself in court. As I alluded to in an earlier post though we can't begrudge someone for not doing what we would rather they do when it comes to their situation. It's a personal decision. Here we are talking about a fan site that a guy runs as a hobby. Presumably he runs it because he likes Discovery and he likes their show. He's probably not so endeared to them anymore. We don't know but after this treatment he may not even be interested in providing them with free publicity
Is it wrong that Discovery is going after him like they are? Yep, no doubt. But that doesn't mean we can decide for him how he should proceed. We know nothing about this gentleman's personal situation. What kind of a job does he have? Can he get all the time off he needs to defend himself in court, and what would his employer think about him being in a large civil suit? Is he married? Does he have kids that he's saving money for to send them to college? We don't know the facts and quite frankly we have no right to tell this guy how he should manage his affairs, particularly when the risk is all his and the reward is all ours. If he wins in court, what does he really get? The right to continue providing free publicity for a company he now despises? Talk about a hollow victory.
Have you ever read a cease and desist notice?
They all but say that if you don't do exactly what the lawyer wants in X amount of time (usually 48 hours to a week), they will initiate legal action.
Having a copyright suit even initiated against you will likely cost several thousand dollars before you're out.
You get a cease and desist and you aren't rich, you do what they say. Welcome to the real world.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
Every episode seems to be the same - men catching lobsters.
Crabs, not lobsters. Crabs.
And yeah, I live in Alaska and never liked Deadliest Catch. It's like any other reality show, just on a boat. Same with Ice Road Truckers - it's just another reality show, in trucks.
I'd much rather watch an actual documentary on crab fishing, or on ice road truckers, than these stupid reality shows. They are all so trumped up it's ridiculous.
Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
phone call from the owners of the fan site to the marketing people, followed by a phone call between the marketing people and the lawyers, would result in a free license, an amicable settlement arrangement, Discovery getting a bunch of free advertising, the fans being happy to have a good fan site, and everyone winning.
Except we don't live in that strange, logical place. We live here, where it's all about the almighty dollar and name rights, and the hell with corporate goodwill! Any PR is good PR! Et cetera! Rabble, rabble, rabble!
Disgusting. When will we get wise and finally decide, "Enough is enough." Sometimes I think it's a pity there wasn't an ACTUAL "Year They Hanged The Lawyers..."
"Get the facts first. You can distort them later." -Mark Twain
"But I don't think of you."
He got it wrong. I guarantee that every C&D written by a lawyer was demanded by an MBA.
I don't care why you're posting AC
Did you ever see a press release or a press map? The ones I have seen do not contain such permission notes, the permission to use the material is implicit.
"They've regularly sent the site info, free clips, previews and information about the show."
Same thing.
The only "reality" shows like this I actually enjoy are done by the BBC. They seem to get it right, rather than making it dramatic, they aim more for looking at the whole story.
Deadliest Catch was amusing for an episode or two, but you definitely get more value from a decent documentary than from a whole season of this Discovery nonsense.