It's no lie, I HATE nastygrams. The whole war over whether or not content is copyrighted and can be put on the internet seems like a pretty trite one and it looks like traditional media is on the losing side. You would think that after the RIAA's PR implosion other industries would have learned, but no. Here is a nastygram we got today over a video that has been dead for 2 weeks. It's the first nastygram I've seen that demanded we write out a check for "losses" incurred by the rights owner, and as such I have decided to share it and my response below.

April 22, 2007



Re: “BILLY’S DAD IS A FUDGE-PACKER” Copyright Infringement Cease & Desist Letter



Professional Organization of Women in Entertainment Reaching Up (hereinafter referred to as “POWER UP”) is the sole copyright owner of all right, title and interest in and to the motion picture film entitled “BILLY’S DAD IS A FUDGE-PACKER” (“FILM”). POWER UP has recently become aware that you, including but not limited to all agents, assigns, website hosting companies, website hosting space and other facillitators (hereinafter collectively referred to as “INFRINGER”) has – without any authorization by POWER UP - made FILM available for public viewing on, at least, the YOU TUBE website. POWER UP wishes to advise INFRINGER that the FILM is not in the public domain and not authorized and, as such, INFRINGER’s offering of FILM , whether on whole or part or any materials relating to FILM infringes on POWER UP’s rights thereto.



Since INFRINGER has not been authorized by POWER UP to utilize or exploit any elements of the FILM, and to preserve POWER UP’s rights in and to the FILM, POWER UP hereby demands that INFRINGER cease and desist from further selling or proffering of any FILM product and remove all such product from INFRINGER’s website, webspace, catalog, inventory, media outlet, and/or any other offering (hereinafter collectively referred to as “WEBSITE”).



POWER UP also requests that INFRINGER deliver, within ten (10) days of receipt of this letter, the following:



1. A letter confirming that all infringing activities and uses have ceased, and will not be resumed or repeated at any time in the future;



2. A detailed statement setting forth:
a) Each and every portion of the FILM that INFRINGER is offering or has offered through its WEBSITE;



b) The quantity of recordings, DVDs, tapes or other copies, that INFRINGER has in its possession or control;



c) The period of time during which exploitation of the FILM has taken place anywhere in the world;



d) The quantity of FILM downloads, viewings, offerings, sales, etc. or other FILM products sold;



e) A full accounting of all monies received for each and every sale of the FILM or other FILM products;



f) Any and all other exploitation of any elements of the FILM in all media;



g) A certified check in the full amount of any and all monies received for each and every sale of the FILM or other FILM products;



h) All fixed incarnations of FILM (whether original or copies in any media) and all other FILM products in the possession and control of INFRINGER, all returned to the above-referenced address.



The FILM represents a valuable asset and all rights thereto are enforceable under law by POWER UP. POWER UP hopes to receive INFRINGER’s immediate and full cooperation in resolving this matter informally and to avoid legal action against INFRINGER. Nevertheless, POWER UP reserves its rights fully to protect its property rights through all available legal means.



The above is not intended to be a full recitation of all facts concerning the above-mentioned circumstances. This letter is not intended, and shall not be construed, to limit, waive or prejudice any rights or remedies that POWER UP may have at law, in equity or otherwise – whether civil or criminal, with respect to any past, present or future violations; any and all such rights and remedies are hereby expressly reserved.



If you have any questions concerning the foregoing, please contact me at XXX-XXX-XXXX.



Thank you in advance for your compliance in this matter.



Sincerely,


(Redacted, although hilariously apropos name)

President of Film Production & Distribution



CC: Website/Webspace Hosting Company

The part at the end is probably the cutest, where they CC: our web host without actually contacting them, anyway here is my response. I wanted to be much harsher than I actually ended up being, but I think I still managed to express my anger and frustration at these asshats quite nicely.

Hello,



I think you may be confused about the functioning of VideoSift. Our site never actually hosted the video in question, it was hosted on YouTube. We provided an embed link, however we were never in actual physical possession of any copy of the film. Furthermore under the DMCA act we have no obligation to pay any fines as long as we have removed the content and were not profiting directly off your media. As we never sold any copies of this film there is no profit. Beyond that I do not believe we have any legal obligation to respond to the rest of your demands however I will attempt to do so on a point by point basis below.



1. This is your letter, the video in question was pulled by YouTube, presumably in response to a similar nastygram that you sent them. Our users submit content to our website and as such the content is not under our direct editorial control. I will however keep an eye out for this film in the future and if it reappears I will remove it. I should note however that under the DMCA it is the owner of a property, in this case the film, that is required to notify sites of abuse and only after a notification that is not acted upon can you seek legal redress.



2.

A. I have no way of knowing what portion of the film in question we were linking to because it is no longer on YouTube.

B. We never had any copies of the film in our possession, again it was hosted on YouTube.

C. It Appears the film was linked off of VideoSift for about 240 days, although I can't know for sure because I don't know the exact date you had it pulled from youtube.

D. I have no way of knowing how many times the video was viewed on VideoSift as the playback mechanism is controlled by YouTube. It received a paltry 16 votes compared to our top videos that have well over 150 so my guess would be not many, but you should talk to YouTube for exact numbers.

E. We didn't make any money off your film.

F. We certainly didn't try to repackage it in any way.

G. There will be no check, we made no money, and broke no laws.

H. Again we never had any physical copies of the film so I have nothing to send you.



Beyond that I have to question your tactics. Presumably this group is seeking publicity, and what greater equalizer than the internet. More than that though there is no need to be rude. I understand that in your world it might seem that legal strong arm tactics are the best way to "nip a problem in the butt." However a cursory glance at this letter reveals that you didn't even bother to look at how VideoSift might be exploiting your content. In fact under the DMCA you are required to point me to the offending content, and you failed to do so. Fortunately I have almighty Google powers and was able to resurrect the link from our database.



http://www.videosift.com/video/Billys-dad-is-a-Fudgepacker



The non functioning video page was deleted 2 weeks ago because the YouTube link had gone dead and your legalese was therefor wasted as there is nothing for me to delete. I assume you must do this regularly and I also sympathize with the fact that it can be frustrating to see your work out in the open, unfettered by traditional media and the context that you might think it should be shown in. However, you could have sought to redress this issue with much less bravado and a degree of humanity. There are other people on the other end of these nastygrams and you do yourself nor the perception of your greedy industry any favors by needlessly targeting individuals who have committed no wrong.




For what it's worth though you will be getting some free publicity. I am going to post your nastygram (minus personal contact info) on our blog along with my response and if you would like to show up and defend yourself or spit more vitriol you can see the thread at: http://www.videosift.com/talk/Nasty-Gram-Over-Dead-Fudge-Packer-Video

Now I won't hold my breath that we will actually get anything resembling an apology BUT I just needed to share this.