The Richter Scales, creators of Here’s Comes Another Bubble had their bubble burst by a photographer who got upset because the video used one of her images.
Lane Hartwell, the photographer who took one of the pictures that was included in the video, complained that she wasn’t paid for her work. She hired a lawyer, who sent YouTube a DMCA notice and forced YouTube to take the video down. At the time the video was removed, it was coming up on 700,000 views. TechCrunch’s view on this is Hartwell claims wouldn’t stand up in a copyright fight.
I spoke with a copyright attorney this afternoon and described the facts to him. He confirmed my thoughts on the matter. Copyright is a structure around prohibitions, not permissions, he says. That means it lays out rules for things people cannot do with your work - it does not give you the right to demand permission before any use is made.
The Richter Scale video was almost certainly fair use of the photo. A court would look at a variety of factors in making the determination. Among those factors, a court would decide if the use is likely to adversely affect the incentives of others to create copyrighted works, and whether their decision one way or another would tend promote the progress of science and the useful arts. In this case, the inclusion of the photo in a parody work would almost certainly be held by a court to be fair use, the attorney said.
You can read more about the story at Wired, where Lane Hartwell is a frequent contributor. The only thing I have to say about this is, what a party pooper!
While YouTube may have taken down the video, it’s already spreading to other video sharing sites. I have a feeling Hartwell’s lawyer is going to be really busy sending out DMCA notices. In the end, all she’s going to get is a big lawyer bill and the video will still be on the Net (it’s call viral marketing for a reason). For those who haven’t seen the video, here it is. Enjoy before they take it down!
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This is why watermarking was invented.
Oh, yeah, we’re definitely in “Web Bubble 2.0″ and we’ll be here for a year or so. Perhaps this will be a more cautious bubble. Maybe not.
There’s still opportunity here, but it will be the savvy ones, the ones with a historical perspective, that will do well.
When there’s a gold rush, its the folks who see the bigger picture who make the gold…
This is why residual commission rocks so much.
No kidding. I was wondering where that video went… now I know.
And thanks John for posting it again. Nice touch.
Lane Hartwell on the other hand… I don’t know her, but I already don’t like her. Someone needs to lighten up.
They should make a parody video on lawsuits in the US and how she’d get fuxored over by the lawyer bill LOL
ROFL that will definitively make yet another big bubble buzz lmao. I wonder how would she really feel after that?
After all, what does she requires to be paid off? Because she clicked SNAP while he was smiling and she even published it on the net without watermark.
Yea! LOL. It made me smile that he posted it again. HAHAHA.
She’s probably just trying to get some cash out of someone else’s success.
This is one great video
it has viral written on all over!
Guess the woman who wants to sue them…doesn’t consider the massive free promotion shes receiving
Not really. She’s received no mention or anything till she complained.
It would have better all around if an arrangement had been agreed upon. Now only the lawyer benefits.
As someone who plans on law as a career choice (I’m still in high-school)…that’s good.
Putting 2 hands on the table to say that is right.
That was a great video and I hope that it spreads. It’s unfortunate that only the lawyer would benefit in this case where no one else wins (as usual).
I think the video will spread virally because of the lawyers and all this crap happening. These guys might get on the news soon!
700k views already? I’m pretty sure it’s already spread virally.
That is pretty normal when techcrunch post,the videos soars.
It already spread virally
it was in techcrunch
Lane could not have done Richter Scales a better favor. Yes the suit will be an annoyance, but if the video was popular before…the sky is now the limit.
I can hear the viral cranking as I write.
I was just thinking. There’s no publicity like any publicity.
Let’s wait the result.
That’s a great video, I’m really not sure which rock I’ve been hiding under to have not seen it before today. The fact that the photographer is demanding payment for a picture that does not look professional is pretty sad.
Here’s a thought… if you put it up on the Internet, someone is bound to use it and not pay you!
Honestly, I think the video is brilliant. And all Lane Hartwell is doing is creating more publicity for the video. It’s not going to do her any good to try and sue for the money for one picture in the video, because in the end the lawyer bills are going to cost way more than what she’d get paid anyway! I bet the guys at richterscales.com are loving this, because it’s causing the video to go viral! So good for them!
I don’t even think she’d win!
How did she notice the picture in all that confusion.
I don’t think she’d win either lol And I have no idea how she found it! It’s like she had to be looking for it already!
Wow, great video. I hope that Daily Motion doesn’t crumble as easy as YouTube on this.
can i use this video as well for FREE?
great video.. ford compared to facebook? not bad.. 
Unfortunately, she’s just GUARANTEED that 700K views will double, and that resilient bloggers etc… will just reupload the video again and again… Heck… you could even host it on a site outside of the US…
Let her use a lawyer in another country!
Kenneth
I remember when this video first came out, it was only at like 1600 views. It has spead virally….yes, if you post it on an international video site, you might be okay….
This video is awesome! What a whiny, litigious society we live in, that this one brief photo can trigger a take down notice. Ridiculous.
Sounds like a setup… like you said the other day… there’s no bad press.
Remember, There Really Is No Such Thing As Bad Press. Lane Hartwell needs to get over it. There’s something called fair use. Besides we need new rules, because this is a completely new era.
Good press, bad press… makes no difference. It drives traffic. Especially the latter!
Yup. Good point. But now I think that person is pretty lame for filing.
Meh.
It make me wonder, what John Chow gonna do if his picture were on the video? Sue?
Greetings and lotta loves from Malaysia.
LoL why not wait for the big guy to come over and tell us what he would have done
LoL I’m sure he wouldn’t, he loves his pictures being taking and published all over the net and on the front page of a lot of magazines
The 700K would be 1,400K if that’s the case.
I would have loved it if I was in that video. More press for me!
That separates the entrepreneurial spirits
from the greedy spirits 
Yeah, I thought so too, lol!
Hmmm, people like this really annoy me. They get all worked up about something that really doesn’t matter.
~ Dave
gr8 video.keep up the good work.
Great video hehe, good work
More importantly, there really could be a 2.0 bubble burst. Facebook being nearly as high valued as Ford, does that make sense?
who’s buying Ford these days?
True, but how is Facebook generating revenue besides a trickle of advertising?
“Trickle” is not quite the word I was thinking of. ;-p
Actually it says a lot more about what Ford is NOT doing… and that is making a profit/good cars/people happy. In some ways, while facebook is creating value, ford is destroying value.
Kenneth
Maybe Ford should start a social network and a blog.
Yeah, hi, I’m from Ford Motor Company’s legal department.
John, I demand you take that video down instantly because of the use of our copyrighted logo.
The DMCA is in the mail.
This is ridiculous. I can’t believe somebody could be so anal to actually to claim the rights used to a single photo in this video. It’s amazing how money hungry some people can be….
[...] Originally Posted by jmenq2 I don’t think so. I think that it is considered fair use, an exception to copyright protection. The site’s terms of service have nothing to do with it. Thanks J. I think it’s considered fair use, too - much like this situtation: Bubble Burst for Here’s Comes Another Bubble | John Chow dot Com [...]