Yabba-Dabba-Copyright
p2pnet news view | P2P:- The Flintstones has been a favorite of children and adults for almost a half century. It’s a shame they’re being used and abused by international corporations and police departments.
It’s more than just a shame. It’s a disgrace and possibly illegal.
Six months ago I asked:
Does PC World and/or Harry McCracken have permission from the copyright holder to publish a screenshot of The Flintstones?
I posed the question in the comments area of the PC World article ‘BitTorrent’s New Downloads: Legit But Lame’, written by PC World’s Harry McCracken, an article that included a screenshot from Mr. McCracken’s BitTorrent DRM-infested download of a Flintstones episode.
There was, and still, is no mention in the article that the picture is being used with the permission of the copyright owner (presumably it’s AOL Time Warner, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network, or all of them).
I also asked my question on PC World’s message boards and was told by a moderator that she’d find out from the publisher and Mr. McCracken if permission was given and would let me know.
Six months later I’m still waiting for an answer from the PC World moderator.
A UK police department (perhaps one of many UK police departments) uses an on-board computer that scans and reads number plates on any unsuspecting vehicle that crosses its path. For the country with the most public and private CCTV cameras in the world it’s not surprising.
But what’s shocking is the apparent illegal use of a pirated recording of Fred Flintstone’s signature trademarked phrase, ‘Yabba-Dabba-Doo!’, to alert The Fuzz of a suspect vehicle.
The spycam was highlighted in an episode of the Beeb’s ‘Traffic Cops’ in May, 2006. During the program no attempt was made to bleep it out, and no mention by the cops or the narrator was made assuring the viewers (all TV license holders) that the cops had permission to use Fred’s voice or even that the BBC had permission to air it.
The credits for the program made no mention if any Flintstones trademarks or copyrighted materials were used by permission of the owner.
I scooted over to the BBC’s POV (Point of View) message boards and posted this message:
Watching this past week’s episode of Traffic Cops, they introduced a new computer system which can read license plates and identifies the owner, as well as any traffic or insurance violations.
BUT! What the hell is Fred Flintstone doing in the system?
The ‘fine’, ‘law-abiding’ cops use an (apparently) illegal pirated recording of Fred Flintstone’s voice in their on-board computer system to alert them of a suspect vehicle.
‘Yabba-Dabba-Doo’ is a trademark of Hanna-Barbera/Cartoon Network, as well as the voice of Fred Flintstone is copyright protected. I believe that using Fred’s voice and the trademark slogan without permission from the copyright owner is a serious violation of international copyright laws.
As well, the BBC should have been aware of this fact and bleeped the the sound of Fred’s voice and any any mention of him or his trademark slogan.
If the cops do have permission to use the recording, it should have been made clear in the program. If they (as well as the BBC) do not have permission and pay royalties to Hanna-Barbera/Cartoon Network, they are infringing on the rights of the copyright owners and should have to pay huge fines. The cops should not be allowed to continue breaking international copyright laws. And the BBC should have known better.
Yabba-Dabba-Doo? Rather, Yabba-Dabba-BOOOOOOO!
After I posted at POV, I received 50 responses – many of them nasty – and none which offered a satisfactory answer. I wasn’t expecting POV host Terry Wogan to jump into the fray with the answer, but I did expect a moderator or the show’s producer to offer an explanation as they often do, either on the POV message board or on the POV television program.
That was in June, 2006. And I’m still waiting for an answer.
Whether or not I’m a longtime paid subscriber to both PC World and the BBC (which I am), and whether or not I’d receive even a small professional courtesy from these international corporations wasn’t the point.
The only point is this:
Do these companies (and cops) have permission from the copyright and trademark owners of Fred Flintstone and ‘Yabba-Dabba-Doo’ to use these images and recordings, or are they just the same as many pirates who just steal what they want, regardless of who owns it?
The makers of the cops’ computer clearly benefit, as do the BBC and PC World, and no mention at all has ever been stated or implied that the rights owners have ever given their permission.
Irrespective of one’s personal or professional views on filesharing and ‘product pirating’, it’s clear from the BBC’s and PC World’s disregard for their paid viewers and subscribers questions that they have even less regard for content ownership in general, preferring instead to steal what they want for their own financial benefits.
I’ve waited long enough for answers from PC World and the BBC. And since they refuse to answer the questions it can only be assumed that what they’ve done (and are still doing) – including the cops in ‘Traffic Cops’ – must be illegal. Otherwise I’m sure I’d have received a reply within a reasonable amount of time.
Companies such as PC World and the BBC claim filesharers are pirates, ’stealing’ so-called copyrighted materials.
But filesharers make no financial or professional gains from their hobby.
On the other hand the BBC, PC World, and other huge corporations (oh, let’s not forget that wonderful, law-abiding UK police department!) just do whatever the hell they want (earning huge profits as well), at the same time jumping on the ‘Filesharers Are Killing Us’ and ‘P2P Funds Terrorism’ band wagons, sending out threatening letters to single moms, pre-teens, and corpses demanding payment for lost income, and the endless, mindless, baseless press releases claiming the same ridiculous allegations as facts.
I don’t expect to ever hear from the BBC or PC World about the Flintstone cover-up, but just in case any of them read this, they know where they can send a reply.
catflap – p2pnet
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October 1st, 2007 at 9:24 am
Hmmm. What does this have to do with P2P? At any rate, three immediate points:
1. it is up to the copyright holders, not you, to “police” (lol) the copyrights of their trademarks. They have the time and money to do this, and it is in their best interests to do so.
2. there is no way any corporation would ever make a public fiasco out of trying to shut down the use of their trademarked images & voices by a police department anywhere except perhaps in a Communist-controlled area! The public (and media) outcry would be unbelievable, to their detriment. Better to look the other way and let the cops just do what they want…
3. maybe I’m wrong but it appears that you made this a tad too personal Jon, as if you had an axe to grind against all cops. I am no fan of the police myself, but I don’t go around making myself an easy target with public posts like that!
October 1st, 2007 at 9:27 am
Jon didn’t write this
October 1st, 2007 at 10:45 am
Pretty sure that the point is, it’s apparently ok for the UK Police, the BBC, and PC World to infringe on a copyright, while making money off that infringement. However, the RIAA/MPAA are more than happy to sue/fine/send to jail any non-profitting who is caught uploading via p2p. That’s a double standard, plain and simple. It’s a bit of a stretch, yes, but it’s still a double standard.
October 1st, 2007 at 1:55 pm
a picture is not a picture, a picture is a frame of a video clip shorter than 5 seconds. Whoa!
October 1st, 2007 at 9:24 pm
i wrote it.
“Reader’s Write” #3 got the point.
the reason it’s in the P2P section is obvious.