Following on previous news that YouTube has removed thousands of Comedy Central clips at the orders of Viacom lawyers (previous BB post), Mark Glaser says,
On Monday, I posted an open letter to Stephen
Colbert about Viacom asking YouTube to pull down his
videos and other Viacom shows on the video-sharing
site. I noted that Colbert has been very savvy in his
use of the web and this move didn't jibe with the way
he treated his fans. His fans have since flooded my
blog and other fan blogs protesting the Viacom move,
and the company has pulled back somewhat and allowed
clips on YouTube while negotiating an ad deal with the
company.Key passage:
"We in the Colbert Nation are sickened by the recent
news that heavy-handed trial lawyers at Viacom,
representing Comedy Central, have asked YouTube to
force its users to remove video clips from "The
Colbert Report," "The Daily Show," and "South Park."
While those lawyers have legal standing to do this, it
goes against the spirit of Internet sharing and viral
promotion – two phenomena that have helped make your
show so popular in the first place. It just doesn't
sound like you, Stephen, baby."
Link to "Open Letter — Stephen Colbert: Don't Love and Leave
YouTube."
See also this post from Mark, "Your Guide to Wikis."
