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Dance Copyright Enforced by DMCA
Posted by
Zonk
on Sun Feb 04, 2007 10:33 PM
from the seventh-layer-of-awesome dept.
from the seventh-layer-of-awesome dept.
goombah99 writes "The "creator" of the Dance move known as the electric slide has filed a DMCA based takedown notice for videos he deems to infringe and because they show "bad dancing". He is also seeking compensation from the use of the dance move at a wedding celebration shown on the Ellen Degeneres Show. Next up, the Funky Chicken, the moonwalk, and the Hustle? More seriously, does the DMCA have any limit on its scope?"
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This guys is lucky. (Score:5, Funny)
My eyeballs feel.... violated.
Re:This guys is lucky. (Score:5, Funny)
I'll just file that under "taking yourself waaaay to seriously."
Parent
Re:This guys is lucky. (Score:5, Insightful)
So there.
Layne
Parent
Re:This guys is lucky. (Score:5, Funny)
/For those who don't know, the difference is something like one note in the bassline
Parent
Re:This guys is lucky. (Score:5, Funny)
DO DO DO Dah-DAH Do-Do
vs.
DO DO DO DAH Do-Do.
I kid you not.
Parent
Re:This guys is lucky. (Score:5, Informative)
I need to go to bed now as I've expended my geek quota for the day.
Parent
Re:This guys is lucky. (Score:5, Funny)
Darl Explained that as part of his 'Image for SCO' policy, instigated in late 2002, he sent all his senior executives on a special course to teach them how to 'enter a room with purpose and drive', and they were taught to modify their walking pattern in a way that exaggerated their 'business swagger' when entering a room.
This so-called 'Darl McStride' was apparently developed by a team of leading psychologists and physiotherapists at a cost of several thousand dollars and, says Mr Mcbride, is the intellectual property of SCO.
"We are not totally insensitive to the accidental use of our intellectual property by those involved in road accidents, recovering from surgery or having naturally-occurring limb deformities that cause them to imitate our Business Swagger, but I take exception to profit-making organisations using it for their own gain when entering a room, and if they wish to do so they should licence the concept on a commercial basis". It has been rumoured that Rowan Atkinson, the comic actor behind such characters as the bumbling "Mr Bean" is already engaged in licensing discussions with SCO. John Cleese was unavailable for comment.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I say we sue him.
--
BMO
Re:This guys is lucky. (Score:5, Insightful)
http://the-electricslidedance.com/sitebuildercont
Layne
Parent
From now on... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:From now on... (Score:5, Informative)
That's supposed to sound funny, by the way...
Parent
Re:From now on... (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/birthday.asp [snopes.com]
Parent
Re:From now on... (Score:5, Interesting)
One of these days, I may very well be able to post on slashdot without citing Futurama. That day is not today.
Parent
Probably because.... (Score:5, Funny)
Probably because through a series of Mickey Mouse protection acts, it's *still* copyrighted in year 3000.
Parent
Another Misleading Article Title (Score:5, Insightful)
2) The claim has yet to be upheld (enforced) by any court or other governmental body.
3) Even if the letter is acted upon and the video is removed, that still doesn't indicate whether or not the DMCA is being properly applied (if not, then the DMCA can't be demonized in this situation). All it means is that someone decided removing the video was the easiest way to handle a potential problem.
Re:Another Misleading Article Title (Score:5, Informative)
True, but apparently you can copyright choreography [copyright.gov]:
Parent
Re:Another Misleading Article Title (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Another Misleading Article Title (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Bring it on! [imdb.com]
-
Re:Another Misleading Article Title (Score:4, Funny)
Then, when the case finally makes it to the Supreme Court, one party can say to the other: Bring It On: All or Nothing [imdb.com]
I'm not sure what they're going to call the next sequel, maybe "Bring It On - Cheerleaders Lobbying Congress"
Maybe that would work better as a Girls Gone Wild video...
Parent
Re:Another Misleading Article Title (Score:4, Funny)
As a work of fiction?
Parent
Re:Another Misleading Article Title (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:Another Misleading Article Title (Score:5, Funny)
Old Man, there's no need to feel down
I said Old Man, pick your feet off the ground
I said Old Man, there's a new law in town
Lawsuits can make you feel happy
Old Man, here's what you must do
I said Old Man, do what your lawyer says to
You can sue them, and I'm sure that you'll find
They won't violate your copyright!
It's fun to sue with the D-M-C-A!
It's fun to sue with the D-M-C-A!
It has everything you need to sue
You can even screw YouTube!
It's fun to sue with the D-M-C-A!
It's fun to sue with the D-M-C-A!
You can take down the vids,
You can enforce your rights
It's all within your sights!
Parent
Re:Another Misleading Article Title (Score:4, Informative)
So what's the penalty for purjury?
It's not really purjury. Since you're not required to register a work (in the US) in order to have a copyright over it, there is room for some gray area. While it's probably not going to be upheld in court, it would be difficult to prove that he's actually lying when he says he has a copyright on the dance move...he could very well believe that he does. Unless you can show that not only did somebody else do it first, but that he had some prior knowledge that it was done before him...
Parent
Re:Another Misleading Article Title (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re:Another Misleading Article Title (Score:5, Interesting)
Oddly enough, this is a problem best solved by another law/tort: frivolous prosecution. You can sue for not only the actual damages (that is, your court costs) but punative damages (money on top to get the other guy to never do it again.)
(Unless, of course, you really MEANT your grammatical mess-up, and intended to say that going along with legal thuggery is less expensive than standing up for your rights -- in which case, WTF?)
Parent
D in DMCA (Score:5, Funny)
Dibs on .. (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I'm going to copyright other motions! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I'm going to copyright other motions! (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Somebody had to say it... (Score:4, Funny)
YouTube Revenue Share Will Really Make This Bad! (Score:5, Insightful)
The Robot (Score:5, Funny)
Thriller... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Thriller... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
This is awesome (Score:5, Insightful)
Minister of Funny Walks (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe I can copyright the missionary position..... (Score:4, Funny)
Nothing to see here... (Score:5, Informative)
Choreography is just one of the items that are protected by copyright, which is listed in 17 USC 102:
(a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of authorship include the following categories:
(1) literary works;
(2) musical works, including any accompanying words;
(3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music;
(4) pantomimes and choreographic works;
(5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;
(6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
(7) sound recordings; and
(8) architectural works.
This statute was last revised in 1990. The DMCA did not add anything to it. I don't know how long choreography has been protected by copyright, but I would gamble that it's been at least fifty years or so.
Read the bloody article FFS! (Score:4, Funny)
Of course trying to drill the correct steps into the thick booze-addled skulls of all the way-behind-the-curve morons that show up at people's weddings and make asses of themselves may be just a much a fool's errand as...well...getting Slashdot idiots to read articles!
Re:Read the bloody article FFS! (Score:5, Insightful)
If people are not doing the correct steps, they are not violating his copyright. He may have a trademark case, since the owner of a trademark can compel people not to use his trademark incorrectly, but if his complaint is inaccuracy he has no copyright case.
Parent
A quick youtube search (Score:3, Funny)
Some good does come from this. (Score:4, Funny)
Now if only we could find the person who owns copyright to the chicken dance!
And another thing... (Score:5, Interesting)
One quick call to the RIAA and he is done for. Fight fire with Fire.
The only sad part is that I find myself defending line-dancing of any kind.
Ultimate Irony (Score:3, Insightful)
The ultimate irony would be if the videographer claimed copyright, the way so many wedding photographers do, and went after him for having a copy of the video. I haven't heard much about it lately, but apparently it is *really* difficult to find a wedding photographer who will simply take his fee and turn over the digital files and/or negatives. I once scanned my parent's wedding photo, and it occured to me that if I were to actually try and legally comply with copyright, I would have to locate the photographer in another state. He took the picture 50 years ago. He's probably dead. I'd have to find his heirs. Needless to say, I "pirated" my parent's wedding picture. Come and get me!
Now, I'm not war3z kiddie. I'm actually in favor of intellectual property as a concept (legal mumbo-jumbo about it not being property? feh!). Howeve, when it fails the "common sense" test in such an obvious way, you have to employ something called "judgement". Hopefully, that's what the judge will do, and pencil whip this silliness right ouf of court.
Electric Slide Video as posted by inventor (Score:4, Informative)
It is most definately a copyrightable work (Score:4, Informative)
Whoever choreagraphed this little peace of nostalgic heaven did a brilliant job. The dance is so easy that any grandma can do it in only a few minutes. She feels as if she is dancing just as well as the rest of the cool and hip people on the dance floor. She is getting exorcise. The younger set gets a lot of chances to be creative within the dances structure, yet still be part of a group.
In the late 70's and mid 80's a concurrence of events in American pop-culture created an environement that made this dance popular. The late 70's marked the end of the "hustle-era" and the mid 80's marked the "urban-cowboy" era. Line dancing was not extremely popular with the hustle dancing set but was just catching on when "Disco" was collectively pronounced dead by the American zeitgest. About the same time John Travolta again made a splash with his movie Urban Cowboy and a new dancing fad was born. Two-stepping and Line-dancing at the local "honky-tonk" was all the rage. The easiest of all the dances to learn was the Electric Slide. Soon after this confluence of events every budding dance teacher across the country rushed to put out content on the new hot medium of the day... Video Tape. I still see the dance prominently displayed on DVD's in the dollar bin at Half Priced Books all the time. The Electric Slide was in the right place at the right time to become the most popular line dance in history.
In my mind there is no question that the choreagraphy is indeed something worthy of being copyrighted. On the other hand it is quite debatable whether or not it has any real value. I don't know copyright law. But I can say that if I was faced with the decision of paying a liscence fee to the choreagrapher, I will just make up my own 32 beat phrase with a 1 quarter turn at the end and call it The Erotic Bump instead. It isn't that hard to do. For an overview of where line dancing is today view this link.... http://www.ucwdc.org/competition/linedances.shtm [ucwdc.org] where you will find that not one of the choreagraphers is paid for their efforts. In the meantime Im going to go out to the salsa club and do the Macarena
I'm torn. (Score:4, Funny)
Wrong: He's getting litigious for no good reason.
Right: He's trying to stop people from doing The Electric Slide.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
This trick wouldn't work. He has no obligation or need to respond. If he owns the copyright, unless and until he issues you a license, you're out of luck.