Dude who made that lil' article is getting harassed now by CNN, AP, and his college...
My thoughts on "intellectual property rights", public opinion, and 'news'.
- by Brandon Williamson
What makes me different from you? I would go so far as to say that, maybe on the surface, I am not exactly like you, but on the inside, we are the same. I am tall, Caucasian, and overweight. I listen to Reel Big Fish and gangsta rap. I make a modest but generally unsuccessful attempt to better my ability to play guitar. I try my best to do well in school but that doesn't always go as planned. I feel empathy for the person on the side of the road who got into a fender bender. Sometimes I just want to get away from the daily routine and take a vacation. I miss my immediate family and wish I could see them more. I cut my left thumb the other night trying to slice a mango. I have a job with which I get frustrated sometimes, but like it all the same. Finally, I like to make people laugh.
I like to make people laugh. This is why I wrote the CNN article that received so much attention in the past couple of days.When I wrote the article, the only people I expected to read it were my friends, as is the case with many personal humor pages out there. The idea came about about roughly three or four days before I actually wrote the article. It occured to me that having an article in the popular CNN format would reinforce the entertainment value of the website. Not expected a large number of people to see the page, I didn't go through the effort necessary to change any of the CNN or Associated Press ties. My friends found the site funny, so I posted the site on the school message board to let others enjoy the humor and let it slip to the back of my mind as it got only a few responses.
A few days later I went home for Fall Break on Wednesday afternoon, and much to my surprise had received a couple emails from folks who found my site funny by that evening. Knowing that I had made even a few people laugh made my night. Thursday I woke up to 30 or so more emails, including one from a friend who informed me that my site had an estimated half a million hits so far that day. People from everywhere were reading my story, and I was in disbelief. I started to remove the site at that point, thinking that it would have been a strain on the University servers, but before I could I recieved an email from an NCSU official informing me that the Associated Press had made a trademark infringement claim against the University (which hosts the site on servers for the students).
I removed the website immediately to prevent any suit against the school or myself, but soon realized that I had done so at the height of the story's popularity. Over the course of the rest of the day, I received many emails asking where the site had gone and if they could get a copy of the story emailed to them. I posted an message explaining the situation (thank you Rachel) and soon decided that if so many people enjoyed the site and wanted to show it to their friends, it was worth the effort to change the presentation of the article so that I could put it back up. In all, the article spent part of Thursday as first written, part as a 404 error, and the remainder as a explanation of why the site was down. Later that evening I was informed that the site had a million hitsthat day alone.
I have no problem admitting that I am a layman when it comes to legal matters. When I put the second version out, I altered the original CNN logo to look similar but different, removed all Associated Press references, and changed many small details that might point the articles origin to CNN. I had originally hoped that the obviously fabricated names of the doctors and researchers in the article and the non-CNN web address would give the parody article away, but felt confident that by changing the logo and many small CNN related details, the parody would be obvious.
Believing (and still believing) that the second version of the article was entirely legal and covered under existing free speech and parody laws, I reposted the revised article Friday and went about the rest of my weekend thinking everyone would be happy. Monday after I came back to school, I was informed that the Cable News Network believed my site infringed upon "the intellectual property rights of CNN." CNN has lawyers and tons of money, I'm sure. I have a Dell and a 98 Blazer, neither of which would help me win a legal battle that I felt I deserved to win. I have been told to pick my fights, and I did not pick this one. I (bitterly) removed all site presentation and instead opted for a final text only version (save for a small personal message to CNN at the bottom), of which I again believed to be the end of any trouble.
But no, I was wrong. After managing to piss off a few article readers, the Associated Press, and CNN, my school decided to take offense as well. Monday afternoon, while doing homework at a friend's house. I received another call letting me know to call the school back regarding the webpage. In doing so, I learned that now a few of the "chiefs" here at NC State decided that the article, which was now obviously a joke, reflected badly on the research of the university. Feeling confident that, even with the NCSU reference, the article was completely legal, I removed the reference.
This is where the article stands now. What once made people laugh and chuckle, and even possibly made their day a little better, has now been kicked and prodded and threatened until there is nothing left but the bare bones. I get the impression that the University did not want me to leave the article up, but I do not plan on taking it down. I have given up more than I feel was necessary on my part. I have edited out what I have been told was legal. If the University is receiving calls from insulted members of the community, I have but one thing to say to those members: You do not have to read the article. If the University is worried what others may think, I say to you: I am sorry, but I dont think I will be giving up any more of my rights. I have given and given up on my creativity to appease those with complaints with only a feeling of silent anger towards the bully in the wake. "Intellectual property rights"... "Copyright infringement"... The article was parody. From the start the article was a parody and the only intention was to make people laugh. I'm only sorry you all didnt realize as such.
Just wanted to let you know.
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~brwilli2/cnn.html
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