Rocketboom

Dembot: A Refutation To Jason Calacanis' Critique Of YouTube or, Why YouTube is Not A Bad Deal For Creators

dembot — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:55:26 -0400

Dembot: A Refutation To Jason Calacanis' Critique Of YouTube or, Why YouTube is Not A Bad Deal For Creators:

In response to I ain’t gonna work on YouTube’s farm no more, I am in the same camp as Jason with an ultimate goal of owning and controlling as much of my own company as possible. But I think Jason is in a different position as a venture capitalist when he rejects YouTube funding….

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dembot — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:54:50 -0400

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dembot — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:53:20 -0400

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‘Double Rainbow’ by Dan Lydersen

dembot — Sun, 12 May 2013 19:25:58 -0400

‘Double Rainbow’ by Dan Lydersen

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dembot — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:05:47 -0400

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See more: Tribal art superheroesa

meanswellwill — Sat, 04 May 2013 17:00:00 -0400

See more: Tribal art superheroesa

What would some of the worlds top cities look like if you turned...

meanswellwill — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:39:00 -0400

What would some of the worlds top cities look like if you turned out all the lights?

The subjects are breaking free! See more here

meanswellwill — Thu, 02 May 2013 18:00:00 -0400

The subjects are breaking free! See more here

Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat sue Scribblenauts

meanswellwill — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:09:00 -0400

A lawsuit was filed on April 22^nd accusing Warner Brothers and 5^th Cell Media of willfully infringing against Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat copyrights and trademarks. Charles Schmidt (Keyboard Cat) and Christopher Torres (Nyan Cat) believe they own the memes which they claim were willfully misappropriated, appearing in multiple versions and marketing materials of the hit game Scribblenauts.

The claim argues that the WB logo is also “a meme, even though it is only two letters inside the outline of a shield. Of course, WB employs an army of lawyers who use trademark and copyright law to zealously protect its intellectual property, including its logo.” Schmidt and Torres also note that other companies have paid them licensing fees in the past.

The suit is claiming damages in excess of $75,000 and could easily cost both the plaintiffs and defendants several hundred thousand dollars to take the case to the end. Rocketboom reached out to Brad O’Farrel who was largely responsible for the Keyboard Cat’s rise to fame (and has also contributed as a writer to some of Rocketboom’s best episodes) to get his opinion on the case. “I signed the rights over to Charlie so it has little to do with me.” When pressed for an opinion: “I don’t really have an opinion on it either.”

UPDATE: Rocketboom reached out to plaintiff Chris Torres and received the following response:

TORRES: Whew, this has just been one big mess of a situation. I think the worst part about it all are the people that don’t know how copyright/trademark even work and are attacking us for this, when we are doing it just to protect our intellectual rights. In terms of Nyan Cat, I’m in legal agreements with the owner of the song and even with the lady who uploaded the video on YouTube.

ROCKETBOOM: Have you ever issued a cease and desist on these copyrights before?

TORRES: Yes, we’ve sent out DMCAs to companies before, but it’s usually only a last resort situation when the company doesn’t want to work with us..
It’s one thing to have fan art of it, or to use it noncommercially . I love it when people do that sort of stuff, and essentially, that’s how memes are memes to begin with. Totally all for it. However, it’s not cool when a large corporation with their own IPs take it and make money from it without approval from the creator. I am just one graphics artist, my art is how I make a living.

The Internet has this general mentality where “if it’s on the Internet, it’s free-reign”, especially with memes. Some sites even take your photographs, art, etc, slap a watermark on them, and rake in ad revenue, while creators don’t see a single penny. However, in the end, somebody owns that property. Putting a copyright and trademark on our work is just a way to protect ourselves from situations like this. Even though all art is protected, you don’t get taken serious unless you have legal papework for it. You don’t see companies even making slight resemblances to big corporation characters like Mickey Mouse or Hello Kitty!

ROCKETBOOM: Has anybody else ever infringed on nyan cat to this degree?

TORRES: I’m not really sure, but this is definitely the first time it’s been on
news sites like this.

ROCKETBOOM: Were you able to engage in any negotiations with WB prior to issuing the complaint?

TORRES: Yes, when I first saw that Nyan Cat was being used in their recent Unlimited title, I was actually really upset. I actually had Kia Kamran, my attorney, reached out to engage in an amicable resolution. However, we were disrespected and snubbed aside. The representative for the company even went out to call this a “nuisance”. Getting into a legal dispute is definitely not something I ever want to do unless we don’t have a choice.

See related videos:

Superheroes are now popping up on both sides of the law. After a...

meanswellwill — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:02:00 -0400

Superheroes are now popping up on both sides of the law. After a man dressed as Batman was recently hailed for assisting police in capturing a robber (the same caped crusader who was later arrested himself for breaking & entering, btw), the LAPD is now focusing on Spidermen after one such hooded webslinger stole $6000 from a Hollywood tour company.

Because animals deserve to look good too. via

meanswellwill — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:00:27 -0400

Because animals deserve to look good too.

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The more things change… via

meanswellwill — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:00:07 -0400

The more things change…

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New from Rocketboom! Sinkholes: Natural Disaster? Or...

meanswellwill — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:51:19 -0400

New from Rocketboom! Sinkholes: Natural Disaster? Or Mankind-induced terrors?

This awesome dad has drawn something different on his kids...

meanswellwill — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:48:27 -0400

This awesome dad has drawn something different on his kids lunches every day for 4 years! Check out all 1100 adorable examples on flickr

Besides the remote control Hyundai has (almost) created the...

meanswellwill — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:00:14 -0400

Besides the remote control Hyundai has (almost) created the flying car! Check out the video here

Breakfast: Adorable and Delicious

meanswellwill — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:36:42 -0400

Breakfast: Adorable and Delicious

Can you find the animals? via

meanswellwill — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:00:06 -0400

Wolf

Horned Gecko

Horned Owl

White Bird

Blue Crowned Parrot

Giraffe

Can you find the animals?

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dembot — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:56:15 -0400

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Is My Computer On

dembot — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:55:00 -0400

bricerawlyk:

dembot:

I just created a new website that I’m pretty happy about called Is My
Computer On. It’s a new tool that anyone can use for free as long as
they have a computer with internet access. You can use the site to
determine whether or not your computer is on and it’s easy to remember the name in
case you need it in the future:

http://www.ismycomputeron.com/

Let me know if anyone is having any technical difficulties or anything, I just released it today.

New Planets? Nope. Just some rusty fire hydrants

meanswellwill — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:00:26 -0400

New Planets? Nope. Just some rusty fire hydrants