They didn't just try to trademark the word 'react'. They have a long list of phrases including "Try watching this without laughing". This is corporate greed at its finest.
+Beachfront Comedy Numberphile, Computerphile, Sixty Symbols, Periodic Videos, and Deep Sky Videos are all channels you can learn something from. University professors are asked interesting questions. Check them out if you wanna get smarter haha.
+Beachfront Comedy I know its amazing, so many videos with 'I think this' and 'I think that', but here's an actually knowledgeable/experienced person telling us what he knows
You know you could probably become a HUGE RU-vidr if you made videos on advice about CopyRight law. RU-vid is completely broken right now and people need that info more then ever, I'm sure thousands of people would come to watch and see what you have to say
First "Donald Trump" tried to get "YOUR FIRED" trademarked! Second "King" makers of Candy Crush tried to get "SAGA" trademarked! Third "Sony" tried to get "LETS PLAY" trademarked! Fourth "Fine Bros" tried to get "REACT" trademarked! If they can try this I may get the word "HELLO" trademarked!
I want to get the phrase "Nihilistic Entropy powered by Fatalistic desires" trademarked after witnessing all this nonsense lol Oh and pretty sure Adele has already trademarked "Hello"
+Nikomai Hurashi Screw that. I'm trademarking the Words "God" and "Lord". Meaning any game, bible, book, religion, etc with that word is getting majorly buttraped.
Ah finally, a video I actually give a fuck about concerning all this FineBros bullshit. Thanks for providing accurate information and not just using this whole bonanza to further build your channel with a "Oh fuck the Finebros" video
+Leonard French I'm pretty sure you can make a whole channel called attorney reacts (although that would be a bit dull). But just you disscusing issues regarding all so often copyright claims on youtube these days -- now that would be a super awesome channel.
This is probably the best and most educational response to the Fine Brothers fiasco so far. I am upset that this video does not have a million views, because this guy has a lot of good information, not just from the Fine Brothers standpoint, but for everyone who makes videos on RU-vid.
excellent job! Glad to hear someone who knows what they're talking about explaining the situation. out of curiosity, what are your views on RU-vid's Content ID system and how they have recently been disabling monetization (like what has been happening with the Nostalgia Critic's Channel Awesome) and removing whole youtube channels (such as I Hate Everything) without so much as a warning, explanation, or apology?
That was definitely educational, and I'm glad you made this video for people who want to get a better idea just what the whole React World hullabaloo was all about. I know this comes late, but credit belongs where it is due.
Amazingly informative; you have my thanks. I think anyone concerned with this issue should watch your video as it will help them understand the differences between copyright and trademark, and when they can and can't be used against RU-vid content creators. The problem is, the doofs who run RU-vid don't seem to know these things.
Thanks for describing the situation with Trademark and Copyright law. I know a lot of people get those two confused, and the more I look into this whole thing the more it seems like FineBros. misunderstood or were misled by someone who misunderstood the scope and powers that come with Trademark, that come with Copyright and vice versa.
Firstly, Yup definately an attorney, i feel like falling asleep listening to you ;) Secondly, Glad you uploaded this. I worked in a IP law office for some time a few years ago (not as attorney or assistant) and know that the system is, fairly messy. Someone who knows how to navigate it and explain everything correctly is great. personally I assumed the situation was as such when i heard about it, but not everyone is me.
You said that they don't yet have the TM & it will be published tomorrow & the public can see and make a claim or an opposition in regards to it. Where can the public make such claims?
A very informative video! If you could do a breakdown in "snippet form" of common law confusions in your specialized field you could have a very successful channel. Subbed!
thanks leonard, very informative. liked, subbed and looking forward to your next video on the subject. you've reignited my desire to study for the LSAT but i probably still won't as i'm too afraid to enter the field of law and not succeed :P
React™ tx for making, this was interesting. What annoys people is that they're already making a living from the community and they around and try to gain legal control over a whole genre of videos, the concept of which they didn't even originate so they could then license it to others in a franchise scheme to make money from the creative works of others.
First time I've seen someone who deals with this stuff every day talk about the specifics to us peasants who just want to make fun video content. I wish we had more of this.
What I don't understand is how a verb concerning human movements or expressions can be made into a trademark, since every human would have a unique way to express this verb so then it can not be a format. For instance if the brothers had asked me to watch someone else's property ie., a video to observe my reaction to it , then claim all as their own property, would I have a claim against them since my unique reaction or expression is indeed my own unique property and not belonging to them?
I'm late replying to this. I first became aware of this issue when I saw a video titled "How to lose 1,000,000 subscribers in under 24 hours." I went to the Fine Brothers channel, and could see the subscriber count go down by several per second. They did a lot of damage to themselves by filing for this trademark.
Incredibly informative. You say that it is the expression of an idea that is copyrightable. How is is that The XFactor have sued so many people? Surely their format was in use (via beauty pageants and talent shows) loooong before theyt ever did it? Does it matter that use can be shown by others prior to a trademark or copyright being established?
This make me realize how broken the trademark system really is. They don't even check if something is generic and should not get a trademark. They just put it in a, to most people unknown, list and then wait till someone does not agree within a certain time. If it doesn't happen, trademark granted.... That is seriously one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. It is so inresponsible the way this works! How can governments (or people in general) agree with this?
You should do more videos breaking down law. You do a great job at it and I think you could have a side job with it. Just keep an eye out for publicized issues and break down the laws motivating them. I'll subscribe and see if you pan that out.
Cold you clarify what you said at 7:25 please. Specifically does 17 U.S.C. 512(f) apply to works protected by Fair Use like reviews? Is it against the law for a company to claim Monetization or issue a takedown against a video that's clearly protected by Fair Use? Thank you
Since you talk about; and are a lawyer knowledgeable on copyright, what's your take on the concealed perpetual copyright/trademark attempt that Disney is trying to achieve by extending the Mickey Mouse rights every times it threatens to end up in PD? Are the judges just going to keep extending it over and over and over? When is enough enough? Anyways, I'm often ignorant on legal issues and you explain things in a clear and calm manner so subscribed.
if you're going to explain more about trademarks, fair use and copyright you'll be a key figure in youtube at least for me. subscribed I can't wait to learn more about this stuff, youtube doesn't do it well enough.
Question: I am just wonder if we would have been able to spot the trademark request in time if they didn't post the react world video. It's like they themselves while requesting the trade mark were still not sure and made the react world video to see how the community would react before they proceeded. I mean if they are truly greedy as people claim I think they would have kept quiet until the trademark was given.
Continuation from post before. For the most suffers from the lack or the more of copyright and trademark rights is those inventors, or the ones tweaks it to be more usable. Intresting right?
It seems like it is going to be pretty difficult to prove standing that the TM will interfere because they have removed many videos and channels who make react videos because of RU-vids currently broken system for removing videos and claiming ownership. Currently anyone can claim infringement over a video without having to prove what was infringed upon or whether you actually own a TM on something in that video.
Hi Leonard. I do have a question. Here is my understanding, and I'd like your thoughts. Under copyright area. The Fair Usage Act in part states that one can use copyrighted material or actual celebrity names and likenesses if used for "Educational" or "Parody" or "Informational/news" broadcasts. Written consent should be obtained prior to broadcast by said entity unless it's for news source material. Basically if someone uses an image; written word, or video of a content not owed by one self (me for example) and is not the creator of this material it can be used as long as money isn't exchange or income is earned. Now if this is correct; the Fine Brothers and a host of others here are in vocation of this act. They; like you said - Monetize videos to earn money. So if the Fine Bros use an extended clip of "The new Old Spice" commercial to be reacted to and didn’t get written permission or paying royalties to Old Spice and its owners ... Isn't this illegal? Sorry for being long winded ... but.
The Fine Brothers publicly brigaded their fans against Ellen Degeneres, because her show included a segment which was similar in format to their reaction vids. Predatory business practices. The guys are really shady.
Hey Lenoard, i have been watching your Video an found it very interessting. Also it raised some questions about some Copyright Problems i had - I am a German FanDubber - Machinima took down 4 bis series i had voiced over on my channel, does this copyright system really apply in this case? I did copy the video material ofc but the audio sfx and stuff are rebuild by myself and also the translation and everything - So, i dont really know if they had the right to took down the shows, i did credit them and everything - yes i did monetize those videos but as said in every discribtion, i would only monetize my voice and rebuild audio, not claim the video to be mine or the show it self. Maybe you have some legal stuff to throw in my way :D Would be interessting if fair use or something applys here to get the shows back (the original creators of the show fully approved of the dubs - but machinima did take them down anyways since they paid for the shows and stuff)
hi! I'm trying to tell this to as many ppl as possible I know , I'm asking for what seems impossible, but RU-vid's content creators have already shown us that they care about their fellow mates more than anyone has imagined & this is a place where ppl make a living by expressing who they are . This is a business where we learn , teach , express , make a change & this is the spot where we make THE noise . What is the point of being a part of this beautiful community . And forgetting who we are & what we DO ! . We shall give the voice & We WILL get our rights. " so please . Anyone who sees this spread this message ." Youber's place announce that you are going to protest by not making any videos for a month & ask your subscribers to join you by not using RU-vid throughout that month . Oh! And believe in your subscribers they are always there to support you . making a significant changes doesn't matter . What always matter is are we really trying or not ? . So please take a step , no matter how insignificant in is. *it* *matters* . . And be proud knowing that you are a reason this beautiful community is becoming better . 😊 (∩＿∩)
with respect to copyrighting a format, would prior art be sufficient to defeat too broad a definition of the format? If it could be shown that the format specified would cover numerous works created by other content creators before the applicant started using the format for instance, would that invalidate the copyright?
So, as i understood from their vid and yours, they CAN protect exactly what their vids look like (sound, graphics and so on), but not specifically "teens react" vids?
Can you talk about the copyright usher's company filed and won against captainsparklez perodies, TNT & Revenge. It's interesting and I want to know why, but also because those songs were my childhood and now they're taken down. 😓
this was great thanks man. You have teached me a few things in life which will surely come in handy. Could you teach us about copyright issues with streaming, torrenting etc? I read on the internet that companies prosecute torrenters with the help of attorneys because when torrenting they also upload, is that true?
Wait so what your basically saying is trademarks don't really protect anything. At any rate if they ever did want to get those trademarks, could they should add an ! at the end of react! and their other desired trademarks to make it more distinctive?
I'm surprised no one has been talking about the "try not to smile or laugh" trademark, they clearly stole that concept from popular "try not to laugh challenge" videos but I bet they were hoping to turn it around on those people.
The Fine Brothers had, years before, used RU-vid's DMCA to take down someone else's old people react type videos. Which existed on RU-vid before they ever had an Elder react video.
Have you thought of using this channel to talk about different things like Fan-fiction, Fan Art, Parodies, etc? Lucasfilm, marvel and DC appear as though they are OK with some of these things, but I think there is confusion as to what fair use is and what it apply to. A channel like that could be very useful especially artist like me who want to know here are legal rights lie without having to be told in a video statement or a wink wink nudge nudge action. Whether it's fan art or in this case reaction videos. I hope I don't sound snappy or anything.
