<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\nIf the internet has shown us anything, it’s that discussing entertainment is just as important as consuming it. We take in a game, movie, book, or television show, and then we Alt-TAB to another window and see what other people think. They discuss the thing, exchange impressions, and then they go off and make new stuff as a way of sharing the experience. Maybe they make some motivational posters<\/a>, sing a song<\/a>, make a mashup<\/a>, produce some fanfiction<\/a>, perpetuate a flamewar<\/a>, record a Let’s Play<\/a>, or sew some costumes for cosplay<\/a>. Once in a while someone really desperate and crazy will make an entire comic<\/a> about something. These works, in turn, lead to a new round of consumption and discussion, which can lead to more works. It’s like the Circle of Life, but for nerdy entertainment. <\/p>\n Content producers aim for big box office returns, high ratings, or brisk sales, but for me the real<\/em> test of the success of a thing is how much it continues to live on in the public consciousness. How much does it resonate with the public and engender imitation or comment?<\/em> Avatar was a box office smash, but it doesn’t seem to be permeating our culture and spawning memes. I never hear people quoting the movie. It came, it went. Golf clap. On the other hand, I was able to make this comic<\/a> twenty years after The Princess Bride was in theaters, and most people got the joke. Actually, they didn’t just “get it”, they joined in, extending the joke in ways that hadn’t occurred to me at the time. The Transformers movie might have been a smash hit that dwarfed the ratings of the 80’s cartoon, but in twenty years I guarantee that everyone will still know who Optimus Prime is, and nobody will remember Sam Witwicky’s name. <\/p>\n A few months ago I discovered SF Debris<\/a>, a website \/ YouTube channel run by Chuck Sonnenberg, who does video reviews of Red Dwarf, Star Trek, Babylon 5, and Dr. Who. He’s been at it for almost three years, and has a huge collection of reviews to offer. Or rather, he did<\/em>. A while back. CBS claimed that his ten-minute video Star Trek<\/em> reviews were infringing on the hour-long episodes he was reviewing. BBC made a similar claim about his Dr. Who shows. The result was that his content – his three years<\/em> of content – was removed by YouTube.<\/p>\n On one hand, I can understand YouTube’s position. They have thousands and thousands of hours of content uploaded to their site every single day. They can’t possibly keep up with every claim against every work. They can’t afford to go into court every single time there’s an argument over rights. On the other hand, SF Debris is absolutely, unequivocally, undeniably in the right<\/strong>. His reviews are protected under fair use<\/a> laws everywhere in the civilized world. Excerpting an original work for the purposes of parody and review is explicitly protected by copyright law. <\/p>\n YouTube’s policy seems to be that all copyright claims [made by wealthy, powerful media companies] are accepted without review and the content is removed without opportunity for protest, explanation, or appeal. They might be saving themselves some courtroom hassle now, but they are paving the way for a future with no fair use. I think rolling over for these companies is like negotiating with kidnappers. It will only embolden them. <\/p>\n Giving them the benefit of the doubt, YouTube (well, Google, really) might<\/em> be simply trying to err on the side of caution. Maybe they’re afraid of going to court and losing, which might open them up for damages and (worse) establish rulings that can be used to further weaken fair use. Maybe they’re hoping the EFF<\/a> will take up this fight instead. I don’t know. If anything, we at least deserve some more transparency from them regarding this. Free speech is a big deal and I’d like to know that Google is at least aware<\/em> of this problem. <\/p>\n The real villains here are the creatures at CBS. Their actions aren’t just an attack of crucial elements of free speech, they’re also destructive and self-defeating. Star Trek: The Next Generation<\/em> went off the air 17 years ago. The SF Debris reviews weren’t infringing on the rights of CBS. They certainly weren’t causing damages<\/em>. Nobody is going to watch a ten-minute review of an episode of TNG (with all of the original audio removed and replaced with a man talking!) and mistake that for watching the entire thing. If anything, these reviews increase the relevance of the show and will cause people to seek it out on DVD. What would CBS prefer? That nobody talk about Trek? Is that the bright future they dream of, where they show isn’t discussed unless they get a cut? <\/p>\n Like DRM, this is a solution with no winners. YouTube is deprived of popular content. CBS gets less sales. The YouTube community is deprived of some thoughtful, witty, and well-informed entertainment. Chuck Sonnenberg has to pack up his show and start over on another site, leaving behind most of his archives, comments, and a portion of his audience. Everyone loses. <\/p>\n