Shane Dawson Censored by Sony!

[Kleineganz]

Shane posted this video earlier today as a reaction to Sony having his parody of the Taylor Swift "Blank Space" song taken down, and he even had one of his channels temporarily banned today (but it was reinstated).

According to Shane, Sony is claiming a copyright violation over a PARODY. Now that's BS and if Sony gets away with this, it will affect any other YouTuber that makes parodies. I know Shane can be a bit over the top and such, but I don't think any YouTuber should stand for this. What do you think?

 

[Rush]

That is such BS, but his point about hating sony as a whole. The music branch and the technology branch are very different.

 

[Kleineganz]

That is such BS, but his point about hating sony as a whole. The music branch and the technology branch are very different.

I think he specifically meant the entertainment division, although they are still a subsidiary of the parent company in Japan.

 

[LJay]

Striking down someone's Parody with a copyright strike seems to be crossing a line doesn't it? It's a derivative work. It should be fine. I'm looking at this from a bunch of different angles. Maybe the Parody included bits from the original song, like maybe the arrangements were not altered enough. Perhaps it was an overlooked mistake and Sony is blanketing a bunch of videos.

 

[Kleineganz]

Striking down someone's Parody with a copyright strike seems to be crossing a line doesn't it? It's a derivative work. It should be fine. I'm looking at this from a bunch of different angles. Maybe the Parody included bits from the original song, like maybe the arrangements were not altered enough. Perhaps it was an overlooked mistake and Sony is blanketing a bunch of videos.

Well for once a content thief may be doing us a favor here. Someone stole Shane's video and that copy is still up. You can judge for yourself how much the arrangements were altered (warning, the video, as per Shane's style, is pretty graphic and has a couple of gross out moments):

 

[JeriKane]

That video, holy s**t. I have no words.

I... Err... I mean hey. If it really is the deal, with his other parodies not being taken down, taking down this specific one doesn't seem to be fair/right. I hope they settle or whatever and let him put it back up on his channel.

That video was fantastic though, bravo. I like it.

 

[Rush]

And doesn't the terms of service of youtube contain "Fair use" or something?

 

[Kleineganz]

New Media Rockstars also is running a story on this now and apparently even the FineBros have been hit by Sony recently too. I swear I'm starting to regret owning anything from Sony now (entertaining or otherwise).

http://newmediarockstars.com/2014/1...d-for-copyright-infringement-shanedawsonsony/

 

[FrankCos]

There are a lot of threads to follow on this debacle, but I think one very important question is "Is this legally defensible as parody?"

To be protected in the US, the derivative work needs to somehow comment on the original, and I don't see that in Shane's video. It's more "imitation" then "parody".

I... Err... I mean hey. If it really is the deal, with his other parodies not being taken down, taking down this specific one doesn't seem to be fair/right. I hope they settle or whatever and let him put it back up on his channel.

The reality is a LOT of similar "parody" videos exist by rights-holders' good graces and a lot of hard negotiating by YouTube. YTers are lucky this isn't a more frequent thing.

 

[TheDutchTexan]

Well... Using anything that is third party is going to put you in harms way. Most definitely if you use part of said content for "sick" and "disturbing" video.

Correct parody: Spaceballs... Incorrect parody: Just fill in the blank.