Posted in Boob Tube, Media Matters, Politically Incorrect on April 28th, 2013 by glennm
The old adage was very much in evidence last evening as President Obama poked fun — at himself, the media and the Republicans — at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Obama’s full speech at the 2013 White House Correspondents’ Dinner | The Washington Post.
Tags: beltway, entertainment, Obama, politicians, television, Washington PostPosted in Boob Tube, The Sporting Life on September 17th, 2012 by glennm
As I said last season, when they made that impressive late-season run from Wild Card to Superbowl champions, the New York Giants are the new cardiac kids of the NFL. In 2012, they’re at it again already. Even Tiki Barber agrees!
Has this become so routine now? Are we to the point where we just expect Manning to do something like complete 8-of-13 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter? Manning had one of the 10 highest yardage passing games in the history of the league Sunday, finishing the game with 510 yards of which his team needed every single one to complete its comeback victory over Tampa Bay. But it was his fourth-quarter brilliance that once again brings into focus what Manning means to the Giants. Which is absolutely everything.
Typical, incredible, invaluable Eli Manning | NFC East Blog.
It’s 2012 now, and this is G-Men 2.0, which means nothing means anything until the fourth quarter, whether it’s a single game or the season as a whole. NFL teams are usually defined by their head coach, and Tom Coughlin has proven to be a great one. But this team belongs to Eli. A bad call, an injury bug, a ridiculous loss to the Dallas Cowboys or three interceptions in 30 minutes, it doesn’t matter. The feeling is the same: Just wait for the fourth quarter.
It’s probably maddening to Giants fans, who must spend two and half hours cursing or biting their nails before the real game begins. But if they look at Manning, they’ll see a ho-hum calmness that should give them comfort. Eli reminds me of the quiet kid you never should have messed with.
Tiki’s Take: Giant new persona dominates Big Blue | USATODAY.com.
Tags: Eli, football, Giants, NFLPosted in Boob Tube, Media Matters on September 10th, 2012 by glennm
The USA Network show Covert Affairs is a fave. Annie Walker (played by Piper Perabo) is way cool!
Source: usanetwork.com via Glenn on Pinterest
Tags: Annie Walker, CIA, Covert Affairs, Piper Perabo, television, USAPosted in Boob Tube, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Media Matters, Pop Art, Tech Bytes on July 5th, 2012 by glennm
Comedy Central’s South Park has opened the door for “fair use” copyright defenses to shut down infringement lawsuits before they saddle defendants with discovery expenses or force a settlement for cost reasons.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago ruled just weeks ago that the cartoon’s parody of a popular Internet video — if you watch South Park, you know which one — was a protected parody. The episode “Canada on Strike” lampoons the juxtaposition of viral videos’ popularity with their typically paltry financial returns through advertising and licensing. Brownmark Films, which owns the copyright on the original video, sued Comedy Central and network owner Viacom for infringement. (Incidentally, both music videos were posted on You Tube, the same company that Viacom had sued for a billion dollars in March 2007 for alleged copyright infringement.) The appeals panel unanimously agreed that the South Park video was “obvious” fair use, “providing commentary on the ridiculousness of the original video and the viral nature of certain YouTube videos,” and upheld the suit’s dismissal.
Fair use under copyright law occurs when an earlier work is used by a latter work for commentary, parody, education or some other purpose whose main goal is not to secure financial gain. Recognizing the essential nature of South Park as a mature, adult-oriented animated series, the 7th Circuit emphasized that “[t]he show centers on the adventures of foul-mouthed fourth graders in the small town of South Park, Colorado. It is notorious for its distinct animation style and scatological humor [and] frequently provides commentary on current events and pop-culture through parody and satire.” Yet without getting into all the procedural wrinkles, the court also broke new legal ground in its discussion of the role of early dismissal of “weak claims” and disposition based on a fair use claim alone, in fighting against the “chilling effects” of First Amendment-related litigation.
Despite Brownmark’s assertions to the contrary, the only two pieces of evidence needed to decide the question of fair use in this case are the original version of [the viral video at issue] and the [South Park] episode at issue… We think it makes eminently good sense to extend the [incorporate by reference] doctrine to cover such works, especially in light of technological changes that have occasioned widespread production of audio-visual works. The expense of discovery … looms over this suit. Ruinous discovery heightens the incentive to settle rather than defend these frivolous suits. [Thus,] district courts need not, and indeed ought not, allow discovery when it is clear that the case turns on facts already in evidence.
An unusually frank and colorful opinion by long-time Circuit Judge Richard Cudahy (first appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979) provides some comedy itself. Brownmark could have offered its own evidence to defeat the fair use defense but chose not to, Cudahy wrote. Its “broad” discovery request made Brownmark look like a “copyright troll” and would allow “expensive e-discovery of emails or other internal communications.” Brownmark’s only plausible copyright claim could be be that the parody harmed the market for its original video, but “as the South Park episode aptly points out, there is no ‘Internet money’ for the video itself on YouTube, only advertising dollars that correlate with the number of views the video has had.” Cudahy concluded “[i]t seems to this court that” the parody video’s “likely effect, ironically, would only increase ad revenue.”
Sometimes the courts actually do get it when technology is involved, although we have no idea whether Judge Cudahy himself watches South Park. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which submitted an amicus brief on behalf of Comedy Central, explained:
The opinion joins a growing body of precedent affirming that it’s proper to dismiss some copyright cases early, and that it’s possible in appropriate cases to determine whether a use is noninfringing without engaging in lengthy discovery. These rulings are important not only to protect speech, but also in fighting back against copyright trolls. Trolls depend on the threat of legal costs to encourage people to settle cases even though they might have legitimate defenses.
Of course, “trolls” are in the eye of the beholder. Like terrorists, one person’s troll may be another’s “freedom fighter.” So whether or not particular litigants merit that somewhat pejorative description, it’s clear that the costs and burdens associated with defending copyright claims — including but not only for Internet-distributed video — just went down a whole lot. While Brownmark involved a seemingly easy fair use case in the defendants’ favor, it will be interesting to see whether future courts will grant motions to dismiss where the fair use analysis is less obvious. In any event, copyright infringement plaintiffs should be aware that the road to discovery where a defendant raises a fair use defense is not be quite as smooth as it used to be.
As to judicial comedy, we express no opinion, but do like the district judge’s tact. “For as remarkable and fascinating the parties and issues surrounding this litigation are, this order, which will resolve a pending motion to dismiss will be, by comparison, frankly quite dry.”
The legal issues [in this case] are hardly the sort of subject that would create millions of fans, as the work of all of the parties before the court did. Nonetheless, while the court has a ‘tough job,’ ‘someone has to do it,’ and, ‘with shoulder to the wheel,’ this court ‘forge[s] on’ to resolve the pending motion. Janky v. Lake County Convention & Visitors Bureau, 576 F.3d 356, 358 (7th Cir. 2009).
Note: Originally written for and reposted with permission of my law firm’s Information Intersection blog.
Tags: copyright, courts, intellectual property, IPR, South Park, virality, WWITBPosted in Boob Tube, Fear & Loathing, Wonder Wonder on June 17th, 2012 by glennm
Nik Wallenda is a 7th-generation member of the famous circus daredevil family, whose incredibly dangerous Flying Pyramid high wire act led to several deaths in the 1960s. Nik has now topped his late great-grandfather Karl by walking safely across Niagara Falls on the tight rope. ABC News, which broadcast the event, forced him to wear a safety tether tied to the wire for the first time in Wallenda’s career.
Tags: ABC, circus, Niagara, TV, WallendaPosted in Boob Tube, Pop Art on February 15th, 2012 by glennm
This is so sad.
via gulfnews.com
As if her hard partying lifestyle hadn’t taken enough of a toll on her once-beautiful face, Lindsay Lohan appears to be addicted to unnecessary fillers and injections…
Posted via email from glenn’s posterous
Tags: celebrities, Lilo, movies, Pop ArtPosted in Boob Tube, The Sporting Life on February 10th, 2012 by glennm
Tags: advertising, NFL, televisionPosted in Boob Tube, Media Matters on September 12th, 2011 by glennm
Watching just a short bit of the wildly popular kids TV show “SpongeBob SquarePants” has been known to give many parents headaches. Now, psychologists have now found that a brief exposure to SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward and the rest of the crew also appears to dampen preschoolers’ brain power.
Tags: televisionPosted in Boob Tube, Media Matters on August 26th, 2011 by glennm
Apple was forced to kill its $0.99 rental offering for television programs. As Greg Sandoval of CNet observes, this is the media industry’s reaction to technological change — trying to put the MPEG genie back in the bottle. Good luck, Luddites.
The Hollywood studios and TV networks don’t want another Netflix. Look around. They’re trying to stuff that genie back into the bottle. The talk coming out of Hollywood is about raising prices for content and offering Netflix less content, not more. There is no consensus in Hollywood about anything, but a large number of decision makers want to see their shows and films offered online on a pay-per-view basis as they try to protect their margins.
Tags: Apple, movies, streaming, technophobia, televisionPosted in Boob Tube, Rock Me Baby on April 5th, 2011 by glennm
I missed Sunday’s ACM (Academy of Country Music) awards. This duet by Zac Brown and James Taylor — a medley of Cold Weather and Sweet Baby James — is very good. One for the iPod!
Tags: ACM, James Taylor, video, Zac Brown
Many thanks to Doonesbury for the illustration and the late Hunter S. Thompson for the gonzo inspiration.
Web pioneer, tech lawyer, social media devotee, double-diamond skier, F1 aficionado, photography buff, bonsai master, iPad and Fantasy Football fan.
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