This is beyond pathetic. To think that a nation that produced the likes of John Adams, Daniel Webster and Oliver Wendell Holmes is now producing "leaders" who not only can not think and speak so articulately, but have to bribe their supporters with swag for copying and pasting soundbites...
No, I'm not an Obama supporter either. I don't have a dog in this hunt.
Here's the original article from Slashdot.
Does this mean that I can now sue Viacom, and have a judge order YouTube to give me its user history too so that I can see how many times Viacom viewed my own videos?
Or is that kind of law for big corporations and not "little people"?
theknightshift.blogspot.com
He sounds undisclosed settlement happy.
Though I actually think he is ust over-nice. If need be, I would have pursued this however far it had to go.
But I'm glad that it didn't have to go any further.
There are other things that I would much rather spend my time pursuing and engaged in. All of this past year there are projects that I've wanted to do but haven't been able to because there's been one fight or struggle after another. And as I said in the post, I don't hold anything against Viacom.
I don't want to have an easier life because I "took Viacom to the cleaners" and got a lot of money out of it. I'd rather have an easier life because I worked hard and earned it on my own, having stayed true to my principles.
And as for whether I "won" in this matter: I would rather it be said that I didn't win anything. In the end, the right thing was done, and I'd like to think that it was in a way that saved credibility and some honor for all parties involved.
But if... if... this hadn't stopped now and I had to keep fighting for this, well...
"Never start a fight, but always finish it." -- John Sheridan
Show me where I violated George Lucas's copyright, please.
I was VERY careful not to include elements from the Star Wars movies. Using $2 toys from Wal-Mart and your own homemade lightsaber effects doesn't count. Not to mention that this commercial was not being done to make any money (heck I LOST money if anything).
Viacom's use of the clip was done for commercial purposes. And I've never had any particular problem with that.
I do however have a problem with them telling me that I cannot use a derivative work of my own original material, when I'm not even asking for financial compensation for it (and if you ever saw the original clip on YouTube you would no doubt note that I was VERY explicit about the clip being from VH1 i.e. free advertising for them).
BTW, it might interest you to know that the commercial has been linked from George Lucas's educational website Edutopia.org as a recommended link for educators to visit. That's not necessarily an endorsement of the commercial, but I've always thought it was a niece gesture:-)
Nothing can ever be changed if we ascribe to it the quality of immutability.
And I'm not out to "win a lawsuit". I just want the right to use material that originated with me, and I've *never* thought of asking Viacom to pay me to use this ad like this. I think it's great that VH1 found it funny enough to use on their show.
You would think that Viacom would be glad that as the guy who's being poked fun at by them, that I'm not minding that. That they would let me show that off even.
But with 4,648 votes I came in 8th place out of 16 candidates. This was an election for five new at-large seats on the school board.
A lot of people have said that this really was one of the more historic elections in county history, given how many people ran and all the crazy things that the various candidates were doing to try to get elected (I was far from the only one who ran offbeat TV commercials BTW:-)
I didn't win a seat, but this really was one of the best and most amazing experiences of my life. I learned a lot from this, and strived to chronicle it all on my blog during the campaign. I'm really hoping that others might read about what I went through as a candidate and feel led/inspired to run for office too, wherever they might live.
I haven't had a moment's regret about not winning a seat. This whole thing was too much darned fun! And having a TV commercial that got so much attention - when I never thought it'd have more than local appeal - was definitely part of it:-)
"Chris, if ever you had the opportunity to be an asshole but be right about being an asshole, now is the time. Take Viacom to the cleaners for all of us."
I don't want to be an "asshole" about it (my wife would never let me live it down for one thing...:-)
But I will try my best to take this as far as it can possibly go, if that's what it takes to get some basic acknowledgement and respect for anyone who creates content.
Someone here suggested that I'm doing this because of "political damage", as if I'm bitter about how the original commercial was used. Heck I knew when I made the thing that I would get heat for it. And I did: the day it started airing on local television, some people were calling in during the live show and said that I must have "mental problems" for blowing up the school etc.
In the end, I got almost 4,700 votes: not enough to place in the top 5 finishers and get a seat but it put me 8th place out of 16 candidates. I've never been bitter about that: running for office like this was one of the best experiences of my life and not for a moment have I felt upset about not winning. There was just too much good that did come out of it to feel upset for any reason. And that this commercial seems to have such long-term staying power is one of the best things that came out of it.
I'm delighted that VH1 thought it funny enough to include in their show. I just want to be able to show the world how delighted I am that they are using it. Shouldn't anyone in my position be entitled to that much?
Feeling "damaged" or "mocked" by this hasn't even entered into my mind, until you suggested the notion.
Look, I was *delighted* that VH1 chose to use this! Some friends called our house one Sunday morning last month to tell us that VH1 was running this on Web Junk and that the show was coming on again. We were about to head off for church but decided to stick around and check it out. I was literally in the floor laughing at how they used it, especially Spears' comment about how "he won't be bangin' the teachers!" Hilarious stuff.
I just want to be able to post this to YouTube so that others can see how far this ad went. I definitely DIDN'T think that it would wind up going so far beyond the local level. Certainly never thought it would be shown on VH1. I'm rather proud of that.
Speaking of which: there were sixteen candidates running for five seats. EVERYONE was doing something crazy it seems to try to get elected! There were some other candidates running wacky TV commercials too. Before it was over with our lil' school board race had been written about in The New York Times, most of the big newspapers in the state and had received some other TV coverage as well. By every measure, the campaign season for this was as clean and vibrant and fun to behold as politics should be.
The biggest case of software piracy ever was perpetrated by the U.S. Department of Justice, when it illegally appropriated the PROMIS software from Inslaw. The federal government went on to use its pirated versions of PROMIS in everything from federal courts to the CIA.
Even though a number of courts ruled in Inslaw's favor that the Justice Department had stolen the software, to this day Inslaw hasn't been paid anything as compensation for the theft.
That the Justice Department is threatening software pirates with life-terms in prison, when the department itself has been engaged in the greatest single incident of illegally using software, is the epitome of chutzpah.
The biggest case of software piracy ever was perpetrated by the U.S. Department of Justice, when it illegally appropriated the PROMIS software from Inslaw. The federal government went on to use its pirated versions of PROMIS in everything from federal courts to the CIA.
Even though a number of courts ruled in Inslaw's favor that the Justice Department had stolen the software, to this day Inslaw hasn't been paid anything as compensation for the theft.
That the Justice Department is threatening software pirates with life-terms in prison, when the department itself has been engaged in the greatest single incident of illegally using software, is the epitome of chutzpah.
Slashdot Mirror
This is beyond pathetic. To think that a nation that produced the likes of John Adams, Daniel Webster and Oliver Wendell Holmes is now producing "leaders" who not only can not think and speak so articulately, but have to bribe their supporters with swag for copying and pasting soundbites... No, I'm not an Obama supporter either. I don't have a dog in this hunt.
Here's the original article from Slashdot. Does this mean that I can now sue Viacom, and have a judge order YouTube to give me its user history too so that I can see how many times Viacom viewed my own videos? Or is that kind of law for big corporations and not "little people"? theknightshift.blogspot.com
I have added the correction to it. 'Cuz we don't want to be accused of perpetuating urban legend :-)
It's a comfort to know that when the Internet collapses, old-fashioned bulletin board systems will be ready.
"Want some rye? 'Course ya do!"
But I'm glad that it didn't have to go any further.
There are other things that I would much rather spend my time pursuing and engaged in. All of this past year there are projects that I've wanted to do but haven't been able to because there's been one fight or struggle after another. And as I said in the post, I don't hold anything against Viacom.
I don't want to have an easier life because I "took Viacom to the cleaners" and got a lot of money out of it. I'd rather have an easier life because I worked hard and earned it on my own, having stayed true to my principles.
And as for whether I "won" in this matter: I would rather it be said that I didn't win anything. In the end, the right thing was done, and I'd like to think that it was in a way that saved credibility and some honor for all parties involved.
But if... if... this hadn't stopped now and I had to keep fighting for this, well...
"Never start a fight, but always finish it." -- John Sheridan
Show me where I violated George Lucas's copyright, please.
I was VERY careful not to include elements from the Star Wars movies. Using $2 toys from Wal-Mart and your own homemade lightsaber effects doesn't count. Not to mention that this commercial was not being done to make any money (heck I LOST money if anything).
Viacom's use of the clip was done for commercial purposes. And I've never had any particular problem with that.
I do however have a problem with them telling me that I cannot use a derivative work of my own original material, when I'm not even asking for financial compensation for it (and if you ever saw the original clip on YouTube you would no doubt note that I was VERY explicit about the clip being from VH1 i.e. free advertising for them).
BTW, it might interest you to know that the commercial has been linked from George Lucas's educational website Edutopia.org as a recommended link for educators to visit. That's not necessarily an endorsement of the commercial, but I've always thought it was a niece gesture :-)
And I'm not out to "win a lawsuit". I just want the right to use material that originated with me, and I've *never* thought of asking Viacom to pay me to use this ad like this. I think it's great that VH1 found it funny enough to use on their show.
You would think that Viacom would be glad that as the guy who's being poked fun at by them, that I'm not minding that. That they would let me show that off even.
A lot of people have said that this really was one of the more historic elections in county history, given how many people ran and all the crazy things that the various candidates were doing to try to get elected (I was far from the only one who ran offbeat TV commercials BTW :-)
I didn't win a seat, but this really was one of the best and most amazing experiences of my life. I learned a lot from this, and strived to chronicle it all on my blog during the campaign. I'm really hoping that others might read about what I went through as a candidate and feel led/inspired to run for office too, wherever they might live.
I haven't had a moment's regret about not winning a seat. This whole thing was too much darned fun! And having a TV commercial that got so much attention - when I never thought it'd have more than local appeal - was definitely part of it :-)
I don't want to be an "asshole" about it (my wife would never let me live it down for one thing... :-)
But I will try my best to take this as far as it can possibly go, if that's what it takes to get some basic acknowledgement and respect for anyone who creates content.
Someone here suggested that I'm doing this because of "political damage", as if I'm bitter about how the original commercial was used. Heck I knew when I made the thing that I would get heat for it. And I did: the day it started airing on local television, some people were calling in during the live show and said that I must have "mental problems" for blowing up the school etc.
In the end, I got almost 4,700 votes: not enough to place in the top 5 finishers and get a seat but it put me 8th place out of 16 candidates. I've never been bitter about that: running for office like this was one of the best experiences of my life and not for a moment have I felt upset about not winning. There was just too much good that did come out of it to feel upset for any reason. And that this commercial seems to have such long-term staying power is one of the best things that came out of it.
I'm delighted that VH1 thought it funny enough to include in their show. I just want to be able to show the world how delighted I am that they are using it. Shouldn't anyone in my position be entitled to that much?
Feeling "damaged" or "mocked" by this hasn't even entered into my mind, until you suggested the notion. Look, I was *delighted* that VH1 chose to use this! Some friends called our house one Sunday morning last month to tell us that VH1 was running this on Web Junk and that the show was coming on again. We were about to head off for church but decided to stick around and check it out. I was literally in the floor laughing at how they used it, especially Spears' comment about how "he won't be bangin' the teachers!" Hilarious stuff. I just want to be able to post this to YouTube so that others can see how far this ad went. I definitely DIDN'T think that it would wind up going so far beyond the local level. Certainly never thought it would be shown on VH1. I'm rather proud of that. Speaking of which: there were sixteen candidates running for five seats. EVERYONE was doing something crazy it seems to try to get elected! There were some other candidates running wacky TV commercials too. Before it was over with our lil' school board race had been written about in The New York Times, most of the big newspapers in the state and had received some other TV coverage as well. By every measure, the campaign season for this was as clean and vibrant and fun to behold as politics should be.
Even though a number of courts ruled in Inslaw's favor that the Justice Department had stolen the software, to this day Inslaw hasn't been paid anything as compensation for the theft.
That the Justice Department is threatening software pirates with life-terms in prison, when the department itself has been engaged in the greatest single incident of illegally using software, is the epitome of chutzpah.
Here's my blog post about it from earlier today [blogspot.com].
Even though a number of courts ruled in Inslaw's favor that the Justice Department had stolen the software, to this day Inslaw hasn't been paid anything as compensation for the theft.
That the Justice Department is threatening software pirates with life-terms in prison, when the department itself has been engaged in the greatest single incident of illegally using software, is the epitome of chutzpah.
Here's my blog post about it from earlier today.