So yet another example of how fucked the current situation with copyright is surfaced on YouTube again this week. As someone who creates original content (even if I'm not making money from it) I get really pissed off when someone steals my content. From my perspective, stealing includes someone taking my work, reproducing it elsewhere and pretending it's theirs as well as someone trying to make money from it without giving me money.
Both have happened multiple times. Probably far more times than I'm aware of. This is basically because people are fucked. The other end of the spectrum is when people (usually big companies) start claiming the right to exert insane levels of control in the name of copyright including, believe it or not, the RIAA's belief that you are breaking the law if you copy your own legally purchased music to your hard drive or MP3 player.
And because some people are stupid enough to believe these companies are right no matter what level of control they try to exert here's the evidence they're totally fucked. Big companies have been caught out multiple times claiming copyright infringement against people who are totally innocent. They make a (knowingly) false claim of ownership over someone else's completely original creative work.
This happened to a friend of mine on YouTube this week. And I got ANGRY!
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgx9lXB9GtE
At least there was a happy ending. After a huge outcry, YouTube and Viacom admitted they were wrong and apologised. I still say (a) Viacom should face charges for making a false claim and (b) YouTube should stand up for their fucking partners!
Here's a little more reading for anyone who's interested in seeing just how bad this problem is:
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/02/03/viacom-terrorizes-yo.html
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/02/08/eff-video-seeks-yout.html
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