NC hit with copyright

[The_Wizard]

I don't know how many of you watch the videos posted to thatguywiththeglasses.com but Nostalgia Critic posted a review of the 2003 independent film The Room, written, directed, produced and starring Tommy Wiseau as the main male lead, Johnny.

Less than a week later a copyright infringement complaint from Wiseau Studios was delivered to bilp.tv, the hosts for the video and both Nostalgia Critic's and Obscurus Lupa's, (another contributor to the site), videos where taken down.

Obscurus Lupa's video review was up for a little over a month before NC even did his, there are dozens of reviews on YouTube, so why the copyright complaint now?

Besides under US copyright laws which the film is protected under, a review falls under fair use as stated here: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107

What are you thoughts and did you see either review before they were taken down from the site?

Obscurus Lupa's review of The Room
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=I40R75W6

You will need a FLV player
Originally posted to TGWTG.com June 9th, 2010

Nostalgia Critic's review, posted to TGWTG.com July 13,
has been posted to YouTube by various fans.

And here is NC's response to the copyright complaint:
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/26252-the-tommy-wiseau-show  

[ecopper12]

Hold on hold on hold on.

The Critic is an awesome guy, but that's beside the point.

It's not fair his video was taken down.

The Fair Use act covers that.

It's just like the Hitler finds out videos. You aren't using the whole movie, so it's legal to use clips of it.'

Now, the Critic has a following, someone will tell him this.

Besides, The Critic is harsh in his reviews. Sounds like the director got butthurt and decided to get pissy.

Seriously, he has a right to speak his mind.
/end rant  

[Lychee Fruit]

Fair Use may protect comediens and reviewers, but big corporations can afford kickass lawyers, and those lawyers can ******** you three ways to Sunday - legally, financially, and reputation-...al..y. But more importantly, the financial aspect. Even when you prove you're not doing anything illegal, there are clauses and loopholes they can use to make you pay for *their* legal expenses.

tl;dr - It's cheaper to bend over and take it when they send you a C&D. sad  

[The_Wizard]

Critic concluded that this film is a must see, if only so that we can see just how laughly* bad this film is.

Before Lupa and then Critic did reviews of this film on the site, most people the site had never even heard of this film.

There's even been an addition to the film's wiki page about this:

Wikipedia

In 2010, the Nostalgia Critic reviewed the film. He placed it firmly in the "so-bad-it's-good" genre and ultimately recommended his audience to view it. The review was quickly removed due to a claim of alleged copyright infringement from Wiseau Studios. This also confirms the removal of the review by Obscurus Lupa, a contributor to the site. In response, Doug Walker made a sketch satirizing Wiseau for bringing the review down, stating that it is protected under fair use. This sketch also lampooned John, a staff member of the official website for the film, who apparently was the first to bring the complaint. Since the sketch, fans of That Guy With The Glasses, the site hosting the Nostalgia Critic, have mirrored the original video across the internet and many e-mails and messages have been sent to the studio in protest. A protest and boycott of The House That Drips Blood on Alex, starring Tommy Wiseau, is planned and expected to take place at Comic-Con 2010, where the comedy short is expected to premier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Room_(film)
Page last modified on 21 July 2010 at 19:01.

* Is "laughly" even a word? Or did I just spell that wrong?