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Please note: All images and videos on this blog are copyrighted by myself and may not be used without written permission. Any persons or entities who do not seek written permission will be held liable for copyright infringement(s) and will be subject to monetary compensation not to exceed $150,000 USD. (In pursuant to 17 USC Section 504(b) and (c), 17 USC Section 505.)

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Copyright Infringements

Well with all of the fresh Stormtrack members flooding in lately, (some of which who I'm sure just took their first skywarn class and probably have seen more tornadoes than Gene Moore) another admitted thief (with a high iq, I assume) shows up and tells people not to freak out, but he kind of stole some shit from you guys! No worries, when he pawned it off for nothing, he gave you credit for it!! Not only that, but he wanted to let you know "thanks" because he's gonna be on THE TV! I'm not sure how he could get in "good" with a station without saying they were his. (Which he swore he never did!) Hey buddy, go buy some cameras, drive to the storm, and document it just like the rest of us!

Recently, I've (we've) had some of our stuff stolen...but that could never compare to the theft of what Mike Hollingshead has had done to him over the years. KSN in Wichita illegally redistributed our Greensburg footage to Brian Schodorf (donated, because that's how they give back to their communities!) for his independent production airing soon. I guess KSN didn't expect us to be already talking to Brian! They also stole Brandon Ivey's footage (which both ours and his were obtained off of a CNN feed, which in our contracts is specific in airing for 10 days only, no redistribution/broadcast only!) from 2006. Brandon told me he sent them an invoice for the footage (which was about 1/4 of what I'm sending them) and they claimed extortion! Oh...right...we're the criminals here and just want what's rightfully ours...so we're now involved in extortion! Storm chasers are involved in some serious organized crime these days! Ron Woods will be getting an invoice soon! So will Sean Wilson, who I guess never really thought it was wrong to use one of my photos to promote his business on his website! Learn to s-w-i-m. I've always been the type of guy who negotiates...you do this for me, I'll do this for you. I'm not going to do something, if there isn't a return. I don't give two shits if my name is in the credits, paper, tv, or layed out in smoke signals. That doesn't get me to the next storm.

If you can't tell by my tone in my writing, I have lived and learned. Selling video or working for the media = a pain. Not to mention the cut-throat business it is. I don't even watch tv!! It just gets in the way of the underlying reason of why I chase. I'll be good to go on funds in a year or two, so I'm happily stepping aside.

Okay, I haven't ranted for awhile...but chasers don't need to get bent over by their own. (Or is he a chaser?...so many on there now who aren't...)

Cynical Dick

2 comments:

Steve Miller said...

Is ST worth a shit to any experienced chaser anymore?
-If you share video you get it stolen.
-If you share thoughts you get them shot down by people who are not even chasers.
-If you support one chaser in the forum you piss off seven others.

I can't believe the ass-munch post you linked to. I had stopped watching that thread a long time ago because I lost interest in people bitching because video posted on youtube was being stolen. IF YOU PUT VIDEO IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, YOU ARE SPINNING YOUR WHEELS WHEN IT COMES TO COPYRIGHT PROTECTION! How the hell do people not understand this?
That said, Dick, Darren and countless other chasers including myself have had video lifted off satellite feeds, poor decisions on the part of producers, shitty chase partner's decisions, etc. that are very valid and traceable copyright infringements. Unless this type of thing is happening to you, as an active chaser, SCREW OFF! Youtube doesn't count for shit. If a chaser posts his/her video there and complain about it being stolen, they're an idiot.

Wow, Dick... Thanks for giving me that little push I needed to go the hell off on this subject.
While I'm at it:
For all of you who hate those of us who shoot video for news or otherwise for $, you can screw off too...

Anonymous said...

Tell me about it. Patrolling the net (YouTube especially) for your video is like trying to recover your stolen property in southcentral LA. To all of the YT kids who steal your footage, *you're* the bad guy for sending the DMCA takedowns. I've dealt with emails and stuff just short of death threats for trying to quash the flood of infringments online. The DMCA is bogus. Basically says that people can steal your content as long as they take it down when you catch them in the act. No matter that by the time you find it, they've already got their money's worth and ad revenue from it. The law needs to be revised to hold the individual posters (mostly kids) accountable. If and when that will ever happen, who knows.

It bites to have to keep fighting this, but if you don't, like a wildfire it will get out of control. The consolation is that now and then someone infringes where the lawyer can go after it and make it worth the hassle. Our attorney does a decent job although it takes sometimes 12 to 18 months to resolve a case. He only takes a third of the settlements.

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