3.59 - The One with the double standard

ever heard of Viacom? They are the parent company of MTV, VH1, Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks, etc. Pretty big in the entertainment world...and obviously a big player in the copyright infringement front. Recently they have filed a lawsuit against YouTube for $1 billion...that's a lot of cash. Here's the kicker...

Christopher Knight, an avid Star Wars fan made a video for his Rockingham County Board of Education campaign. He posted it on YouTube and it was also aired on his local TV station. Then the brilliant people over at Viacom's VH1 took his clip without his permission or notification, and broadcast it on their Web Junk 2.0 show. Knight then put the VH1's clip of his video on YouTube prompting YouTube to send him a letter stating that Viacom claims that the material is infringing on copyright.

So in a nut shell...Viacom took Knight's non-profit video without asking permission and then uses it for profit. Then when he put it up on YouTube...Viacom made them pull the video claiming copyright infringement. I think if anyone should claim copyright infringement it would be George Lucas...