CBS steals my work
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
General Counsel
CBS Interactive, Inc.
235 Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
415/344.2000
I called you about this but you didn’t return my call. Your CNet TV site has been stealing my work.
Try a search on “CNet” and “NerdTV” and you’ll find many of my NerdTV my shows, complete with their Creative Commons attributions at the end prohibiting their use on commercial sites. CNet TV is a commercial site because it carries advertising.
Why does your professional media operation feel the need to rip off my work?
Here’s my Google search:
Here’s a sample CNet page. Notice the Blackberry ad. There are other ads.
I don’t know how long this has been going on but stop it immediately.
These shows and NerdTV season 2 will appear in the fall on a site that actually asked permission to use them.
Take them down now.
Note — As of Sunday evening July 3rd Cnet appears to have taken down the NerdTV videos.
Sic’em! Go, Bob.
this, to me, looks like a perfect opportunity for Bob to submit a DMCA claim.
Seems that way to me too!
Wow. Some of Bob’s material showed up on a Google search.
+1
Do you have a link to the creative commons license that’s used? I’m not from CBS
Just curious as to what it says.
Is there a misunderstanding as to what “commercial” means, was it an over-sight, intentional theft, or what?
Don’t mess with Cringely.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
This is the Creative Commons non-commercial attribution share alike license, which is what I used for NerdTV. It allows only non-commercial derivative works that give attribution to the original source and require the same terms of any sub-derivative work. CNet violated this license by being commercial, by not giving attribution, and by distributing its derivative work under a different license — a traditional copyright.
Think about it. I distributed NerdTV under a very clear license cited in the video with only three terms and CBS violated ALL of them.
And what would have happened to someone else had they violated the terms of CBS’s license (on material actually owned by CBS)? I’m sure CBS would take them to the cleaners. You should, too, Bob.
Glad to help Bob!
Go get ‘em, Bob!
Also:
>> and NerdTV season 2 will appear in the fall
YES!!!!!!!!!! Where do I pre-order the make-Cringely-rich DVD edition?
Also, where’s that new book you mentioned four years back?
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070531_002163.html
I’d like to pre-order that as well.
Still working on the book, trying to cut it from 450,000 words down to 230,000. I wish I was making that up.
remove definite and indefinite articles. replace conjunctions with semi-colon. remove interjections.
that should do it.
DMCA takedowns do not apply here — CNET TV is not a provider, so it has no right to the safe harbor provision, which is what DMCA takedown notices are about. They are just plain copyright infringers.
If they host their site on some third party provider, then a DMCA takedown notice could be send to *that* provider.
Mind you, IANAL.
If someone had done that to one of Sumner Redstone’s precious creative enterprises, his attorneys would try to have the owners of the site jailed, whipped, and hanged.
ABC/Capital Cities/Go/Disney did pretty much the same to me when they launched their Outside Magazine website… ripped off a site I’d done for a few of my favorite national parks word for word, including my personal pictures.
This kind of crap is one of the main reasons I’m a cultural dropout. Every last sleazebag in the for profit media business is a lying, hypocritical thief. Let ‘em get their meals from someone else.
Lately I’ve been finding that some large commercial operations are insensitive to copyright issues. I’ve had my own image appear in some places it didn’t belong, without any requests for permission, and with my watermark clearly showing above their words, “SUPPLIED PHOTO.”
Large commercial operations are very sensitive to copyright issues when you copy their stuff.
Cringely, if you can’t get a hold of them, just host some Star Trek episodes on your website for a while. I guarantee you their copyright office will contact you.
Boy you have that right. If it wasn’t for the loyal following of Trek fans, they would have buried the whole program in a deep hole and forgotten about it. But because there is a following they begrudgingly continue the series and episodes. Heaven forbid if any of their more enthusiastic fans posts a photo or film clip — its off with their legal head.
Maybe what the world needs is a good web connected data center somewhere outside the reach of Paramount and CBS’s lawyers.
Sorry to hear about your problems, Bob.
By the way, will we ever see any of the videos from your Startup Tour interviews? (I would like to see you grilling some of those people.)
Yeah, whatever happened to that? Will that be part of the new NerdTV episodes?
I’ve been wanting to see those as well.
Yeah, me too.
GREAT news shortly on the Startup Tour. Give me other week or two.
Hey Bob, Perhaps I misread some of your previous posts on the subject of Nerd TV, but it seems you usually pass the buck to “Oregon Public Broadcasting” as the owner, saying you have no control over its availability.
That was for the “Triumph of the Nerds” show.
You can submit a DMCA to google and they will delist the pages until you get CBS to take it down.
You buried the lede…
NerdTV season 2…I don’t believe it!!!
Robert,
I am former Marine. Myself and about a 100 cohorts (no swabbies nor doggies) will provide whatever force may be necessary if the usual and customary protestations through the California court system are impotent or inconclusive.
Seriously, Walter Cronkite is rolling over in his grave after hearing about this.
Hang in there, you have more supporters than you know.
Cheers,
Jacob
Maybe they can pay you whatever they’ve earned from the pages hosting your material? Might give you enough cash to finish of season two of Nerd TV, which is starting to feel a bit like waiting for Duke Nukem forever. Hopefully will be better received when we eventually get it!
Imitation is the best form of flattery
Plagiarism ………. the internet disease. I hope it all works out.
do you really need to preach to the converted
No, but it helps to shame CBS into doing the right thing. When their counsel didn’t call back and I saw all the hoops their site said I (not they) had to go through to get them to stop stealing my work, I knew the better action was just to make them looks stupid and greedy. And it worked.
DINGO: No! Oh, no! Bad … bad Zoot!
GALAHAD: What is it?
DINGO: Bad, wicked, naughty Zoot! She has been setting fire to our beacon, which I have just remembered – is grail-shaped … It is not the first time we’ve had this problem.
GALAHAD: It’s not the real Grail?
DINGO: Wicked wicked Zoot … she is a bad person and she must pay the penalty. And here in Castle Anthrax, we have but one punishment … you must tie her down on a bed … and spank her. Come!
GIRLS: A spanking! A spanking!
As a service to the public, I propose you permit CBS to use your episodes in exchange for permission to digitize any public domain Jack Benny episodes.
http://www.jackbenny.org/biography/other/cbs_permanently_seals_jack_benny.htm
I often wonder where are the reruns of Golden Era shows like Benny, Burns and Allen, Amos and Andy. I can’t even think of a new series that did the Jack Benny trick of looking in on the other actors on a TV set between scenes in which he appeared. And Gracie’s closet of hats…priceless. Of course we all know what happened to A&A…we may have to wait for a black US president before they’ll let us see it again.
Oops! That trick of side-commenting on the story belongs to George Burns not Jack Benny. Benny had the 39-year-old and miser routines along with Rochester. Come to think of it the lack of availability of Jack Benny programs may be related to Rochester http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LItvNnwOk4 so perhaps it’s similar to the Amos and Andy problem.
Actually, one of my local terrestrial digital subchannels was showing Jack Benny episodes via myretrotv.com until they switched, to my chagrin.
It looks like the videos are down now. I can get the pages to come up, but there is no content in the flash player.
Instead of contacting the muckity-mucks at corporate headquarters, you would probably get better results by contacting the site editors:
http://www.cnet.com/cnet-editors/
http://www.cnet.com/cnet-tv-hosts/
But that’s not what they tell you to do.
Time to use Quinn Emmanuel…
Just put an automatic perpetual exchange permission in the opening embedded credits giving you permission to use any and all of their copyrighted works in perpetuity if they use your material without written permission. Any attorney could probably compose an effective ‘terms or service / exchange of rights’ to be included in all your published works.
Very clever, though my experience is big publishers count on their legal budgets to be bigger than my legal budget. Just occasionally, though, they are wrong…..
you can’t see BS without CBS
Bob, is nerdtv.net still a valid domain for NerdTV? When I try to access content from http://distribution.nerdtv.net/video/ntv001/ntv001.mp4 via the PBS links, I get a connection timeout.
Also, http://nerdtv.net doesn’t seem relevant to NerdTV at all. Is something amiss?
Now that you mention that CBS isn’t hosting NerdTV content, where can one go to see the content?
Kind Regards,
-Joshua
Found this:
http://www.archive.org/details/nerdtv001
Give them hell Bob, Cnet is a site i simply don’t trust !
Take a look at their Download section and filter the results for “free” software!
I have never sen so many programs that are on the suspicious list of being malicious.
One notable entry is 10bit 360 which was an anti malware program from China who had been stealing Malwarebytes signature database.!
They were caught when Malwarebytes became suspicious after scan results showed “identical” descriptions of infections.
Malwarebytes then made up a false virus that was harmless, no other AV flagged it up as the code was harmless except two,,Malwarebytes and 10bit 360.
They embedded a message that said “please dont steal our software”.
All other Freeware sites dropped 10bit but Cnet refused as they claim that they check all programs.
Take a look at their Freeware section, this is a site people trust yet they host suspicious programs that their team never bother to review.
They are gangsters,, i hope you give them what they deserve Bob..
I guarantee you their copyright office will contact you.
http://www.onepearls.com/bracelet-jewelry-silver-pearl-bracelet/c13_56/index.html
Developed in collaboration between legendary music producer and artist Dr. Dre, engineers from Monster Cable and renowned industrial designer Robert Brunner. The Beats by Dr. Dre Studio headphones allow you to experience music the way the artist wants you to. These high definition headphones are precision-engineered to reveal the full sound of today’s digital music including the most sonically demanding rock.
looks like a perfect opportunity
Its only dramatic if you make it dramatic.
buy google plus 1, buy google plus one, buy google 1, buy google +1, buy google plus ones…
[...]I, Cringely » Blog Archive » CBS steals my work – Cringely on technology[...]…
Good information that you have supplied My Computer Is Slow is one of the best ways to ensure that your computer is running smoothly.
Welcome to Beats By Dr.Dre of Beats By Dre Studio shop,100% Beats by dre outlet Authentic Beats By Dr.Dre Limited Edtion quality guaranteed….
[...]I, Cringely » Blog Archive » CBS steals my work – Cringely on technology[...]…
silver beats headphones…
[...]I, Cringely » Blog Archive » CBS steals my work – Cringely on technology[...]…
site for free picture hosting|image host myspace|image host facebook|image host twitter|upload images free online|image host…
[...]I, Cringely » Blog Archive » CBS steals my work – Cringely on technology[...]…
From time to time, beats by dre find that even with no beats by dre studio router, they’re still picking up a wireless signal. that is the price we could accept about louis items, their wireless alerts may be broadcasting via your louis vuitton men bags space. An answer here might be ask the neighbor to show off the facility to their router before they go to mattress, to your monster beats by dre studio and theirs. the dr dre headphone features simple silver trim and closely resembles the classic handset style beats by dre solo is known for and for those who crave a little louis vuitton shoulder bags and more colour. As a common rule, limit cell cheap beats by dre phone usage, particularly lengthy calls.Driving for hours can really be boring so having some louis vuitton denim entertainment could really help to break the louis vuitton monogram handbags monotony. Think movies or music or crayons and drawing pads, even books!
of work. the more you implement these…
techniques, the more traffic you will get to your blog, and the more income you will make from your blog if you have monetized it correctly. i hope it all works out for you.good luck with getting lots of traffic to…
after a bankruptcy. the first step is…
to obtain a copy of your discharge notice and provide it to your lenders. it is also a good idea to write up a letter of explanation to give your lenders. unfortunately, this will require you to explain your financial situation…