Don’t worry, there’s still time. Depending on where you live and who you are any of these may apply…
1. Sign up for Tuesday’s Illegal Billboard Workshop in New York. It’s a rare opportunity to learn about how you can fight illegal signs like the folks at IllegalSigns.ca–who have removed over 100 illegal signs in Toronto.
2. Stopped by the Anti-Advertising Agency Foundation for Freedom OFFFice in Chicago. Anne Elizabeth Moore is ready to meet potential applicants and consult on your application for the Foundation for Freedom Award. She’ll also meet with other friendly folks. And I will be out there July 5th and 6th for the “Weekend of Independence!”
3. Quit your job in advertising. You know you’re not in it for the long haul. C’mon be real – you’re reading this site! Get out now and do something you love. Quit recently or quitting before September 1st? You qualify! Even if you don’t download the AAAFFFA Kit (try saying it out loud) also known as our application form. It’s a good read.
4. Donate to the AAAFFF. Making too much money in advertising to want to quit? Or would you just like to put $5 toward rewarding some highly frustrated, very talented and creative individual for taking action and joining a field that will actually make a difference? That’s worth $5 right? (Or at least the tax deduction?) You can donate to the AAAFFFA. Thanks to your contributions we’re nearly at a $700 bounty!
YouTube: Monetizing Alleged Copyright Violators—And Skirting the Law
My friend Franklin Lopez—videomaker extraordinaire—recently received a bizarre notice in his inbox regarding a show he produced reusing some Universal Music Group (UMG) imagery. The note stated in part, “Your video is still live because UMG has authorized the use of this content on YouTube. As long as UMG has a claim on your video, they will receive public statistics about your video, such as number of views. Viewers may also see advertising on your video’s page.â€
Now forget that Lopez’s show, It’s The End of the World As We Know It And I Feel Fine, is a news program. (In my opinion a very good one, although unlikely to attract a mainstream audience due to its radical politics and volume of swears.) Here, he’s even commenting—favorably, nonetheless, on a popular song. These facts, in a normal copyright infringement allegation, would make Lopez’s show a good candidate for the Fair Use defense.
Forget it, though, because this case won’t ever go to the courts. Lopez—unwittingly, perhaps, maybe even regretfully—agreed to such terms when he posted videos to the site. And now UMG, the company he refers to as one of the “corporate bloodsuckers that dominate the culture industry†in the episode in question is targeting and, potentially, profiting from his audience. And skirting the law. Read More »