“Viacom’s copyright battle with YouTube took an interesting turn this week, as the company has found itself in the embarrassing position of having highlighted the possibly that it committed a … copyright infringement of its own. Viacom effectively pointed the finger at itself when the company tried to get a Web Junk 2.0 clip removed from YouTube, only to end up exposing the fact that Viacom’s VH1 unit had not obtained permission to use the source video that is featured in the clip.”
Not only that, but it looks as if the entire Web Junk 2.0 series violates copyright because it takes clips from YouTube without permission of the original video owners or of Google, Inc., the owners of YouTube. Hey Viacom: take down yourself!
I plan on using this example in my class as I talk about copyright with students to highlight just why copyright is so confusing and why it really needs to be understood by them.
I was inspired by the YouTube video that Jim Gates linked last week (fantastic 27 minutes – got me teared up). I found another video in the “Related” section – I’m sure you’ve heard the story about a teacher, asked by a guest at a dinner party, “What do you make”… and the setup for a conversation…
Well, here’s a clip from a Toastmaster’s convention. It has the word @$$ in it, and he flips a certain finger, but it is classic, just not safe for work (nsfw).
So I just spent 10 minutes reading Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in the original… not just in Olde English, but from an 1896 elluminated text… most wonderful:
Brings back fond memories of reading old texts in my undergrad days (B.A. English). Enjoy!
