GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

'Hello Cowgirl' Legalities

POSTED BY: CLJOHNSTON108
UPDATED: Tuesday, November 1, 2005 18:43
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 1559
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Monday, October 31, 2005 12:45 PM

CLJOHNSTON108


Tried to post links to the "Hello Cowgirl" RealMedia files (but in correct episode order) on a thread in the SciFi-Meshes.com forums...

Serenity V3
http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22567

...because a user said he'd never seen the show.

My post mysteriously disappeared last night, so I re-posted it this morning.

I just got a PM from one of the Admins...

Quote:

Subject: Recent Thread deletions

With regards to a message of yours that was removed earlier, the one provided links to the episodes of Firefly, I wanted to apologize that you weren't given a notification as to why this happened. Usually we send a message, and in many cases warnings and alerts when we edit posts if we feel they are inappropriate.

We took your post out for a good reason, and that is because if Universal, or Fox (or whoever owns the merchandising rights to Firefly) sees your links, they will come down hard on us, regardless of what Josh Whedon says.

So your post is gone, please don't put it up again, and I'd prefer to leave it at that. I know you have been around for a good while on the site, which stands for something, even if you haven't posted much.

Sincerely,
Rick "Hobbes" Snider
SFM Instructor



Sooooo, just what are the legalities of that "Hello Cowgirl" site?
http://versaphile.com/download/firefly.html

---------------

"Whether they ever find life there or not, I think Jupiter should be considered an enemy planet."
-- Jack Handey

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Monday, October 31, 2005 2:05 PM

UNSARDONIC


Quote:

Originally posted by cljohnston108:

Sooooo, just what are the legalities of that "Hello Cowgirl" site?




I'm quite sure that thy are the same as those of, say... Napster... before the got with the labels and started paying royalties.

An individual has the legal right to make for themselves a copy of a video they have paid for & own for personal, inhome viewing. As soon as they make it available en masse for the general public to view, they are taking on the role of a distributor and... as I recall, that right would be limited to Fox or Universal period. Neither you nor I are the copyright holders of these copyrighted original materials and, we have no rights as to their dissemination.

Anything else, well... here in LA they're arresting the street vendors for selling pirate DVD's on the sidewalks

HOHOHO

hope that helps

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Monday, October 31, 2005 2:45 PM

CLJOHNSTON108


Well, the site's owner qualifies herself this way...
Quote:

These episodes are provided to encourage viewership of "Firefly." All files are in RealMedia format unless otherwise noted. All episodes are aired versions only; if you like Firefly, support the show and buy the DVD set for commentary, nicer format, and all-around portable video goodness.

At the behest of numerous requests, complete with stories about converting many new viewers with these videos, I have decided not to take this page down. I highly encourage those who like what they see to buy the DVD set, which is very nicely done and full of goodies.


I myself made the decision to purchase the DVD after only a half-hour's viewing of "Serenity" (the pilot)!

But, boy did I stir up a hornet's nest on that SciFi-Meshes site...

Quote:

posted by Samurai

Re: Serenity V3
We cannot prove that Mr Whedon did authorise the episodes for distribution online. Therefore we have deleted the links to the site hosting the videos.This is to protect the site and its owner from any retribution brought forward by the shows distributor- whoever it may be.

Please be warned- from this point forward, anyone asking for the link will be warned for soliciting illegal material. Anyone found supplying the link on the public boards will be banned for distribution of same.

From this point forward, there is no middle ground- you are all well aware of the TOS, and in the case of piracy/solicitation of same, it will be enforced to the maximum extent.



---------------

"Whether they ever find life there or not, I think Jupiter should be considered an enemy planet."
-- Jack Handey

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Monday, October 31, 2005 4:31 PM

UNSARDONIC


Quote:

Originally posted by cljohnston108:
Well, the site's owner qualifies herself this way...
Quote:

These episodes are provided to encourage viewership of "Firefly."


We cannot prove that Mr Whedon did authorise the episodes for distribution online....
-- Jack Handey



Yup... look, it's very simple: there is no point to attempt to prove that JW authorized any damned thing... don't even bother.

If he did, he would broadcast it in Giant (Chinese) Letters, "OOH! OOH! OOH! oh, YEAH!!! I AUTHORIZE(!!) You To Take My {Copyrighted Original Material} and do whatever the hell you feel like with it. ...just because it's the 'offspring-of-my-creative-mental-loins' doesn't mean I give a damn whether or not I ever get any royalties from it; "I'm RICH, Bee-YATCH!!" (Rick James'Dave Chapelle...)

With those points in mind, the site's owner can qualify him/herself however he/she wants... ...what is it they say in traffic court(?), "Ignorance of the LAW is no excuse."

Words to the wise...

HOHOHO

...JW made us happy, I want to make sure he gets his fair share "or my friends will think I'm a stupid, inbred stack of meat"

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Tuesday, November 1, 2005 9:49 AM

R1Z


I'm not privy to the contracts, but I suspect that Joss, as screenwriter, owns the story lines, and Fox, since they paid Joss, paid the actors and built the sets, owns the finished episodes.

If this is the case, even Joss's permission wouldn't make disseminating copies of the aired episodes legal. I'm assuming that Fox knows about the site, but figures it boosts DVD sales, the profits of which go to Fox.

The downloads are rather dark (on my monitor, at least), and the quality is nowhere near that of the dvds, so anyone who gets hooked would want the best available copies.

To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks. --Robt. Heinlein

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Tuesday, November 1, 2005 10:20 AM

BLINKER


Quote:

We cannot prove that Mr Whedon did authorise the episodes for distribution online....
-- Jack Handey



Man, I can remember the days when "Deep Thoughts" used to be funny.

_________
Sliders: Gate Haven - http://slidersweb.net/blinker

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Tuesday, November 1, 2005 6:43 PM

UNSARDONIC


Quote:

Originally posted by R1Z:
I'm not privy to the contracts, but I suspect that Joss, as screenwriter, owns the story lines, and Fox, since they paid Joss, paid the actors and built the sets, owns the finished episodes.

If this is the case, even Joss's permission wouldn't make disseminating copies of the aired episodes legal. I'm assuming that Fox knows about the site, but figures it boosts DVD sales, the profits of which go to Fox.



Yeah, I actually thought these things, too... just didn't get around to including them as footnotes to my original points... I agree with you completely

HOHOHO

...damn, I hope SOMEbody decides to like the show because of these postings, "or their friends will think they're stupid, inbred stacks of meat"

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