More Muppet madness. Done really well.

I went to the O’Reilly E-Tech conference this week. There was one open debate at the EFF Pioneer Awards and many discussions with people at the forefront of the copyright issue and the line between fair use and infringement.

Sad Kermit is a good example of the question. This is obviously a great piece of expressive art and works at many different levels. However it could also be labeled infringement because it is not authorized by Disney and they could go as far as saying that it tarnishes the image of one of their most valuable characters. There is something artistic and creative here that needs to be protected somehow. How do we allow art projects and fair use while protecting the copyright? I think this site strikes a balance by not providing merchandise and not profiting, but is the artist entitled to something if you are moved by the art? Street musicians don’t pay ASCAP, would it be ok for this site to put up a paypal collection jar?

Taking donations wouldn’t begin to cover the cost of licensing the songs or use of the character. Legally this art would never happen, but neither would a good sax solo on a street corner. It’s impractical for music publishers to go after street musicians but its easy to track down the owner of most web sites and send them a letter. I’m not a legal expert but we have to come up with an answer for this that encourages and enables art over the internet without fear while protecting copyright holders against outright exploitation of their property.

In the meantime enjoy Sad Kermit while you can. You can also watch the music video for Hurt (Nine Inch Nails cover) on YouTube.

This is as close as I can come to a video from 8th grade on my birthday.

Here it is.

So Captain Cruch wasn’t the guy who figured it out first. Its also funny that they complain about having to call the phone company to lock down the trunks. I guess those were the days before the 1850hz TASI locking frequency.


There were rules to stay safe:

1. Don’t mess with your parent phone company
2. Don’t mess with MCI
3. Don’t mess with a phone number that doesn’t ring first (indicates Instant ANI)


When/if you watch this pay attention to the people and what they have in common. Hacking and the spirit of the internet is arguably overcoming handicaps and leveraging open infrastructure. Also realize that these were the days before the common person could afford business computers.

“He could see things that other people don’t see; and make connections that other people don’t make.”

Disney Media Networks co-chair Anne Sweeney recently gave a speech where she said:

We understand now that piracy is a business model. It exists to serve a need in the market for consumers who want TV content on demand. Pirates compete the same way we do - through quality, price and availability. We we don’t like the model but we realise it’s competitive enough to make it a major competitor going forward….The digital revolution has unleashed a consumer coup. We have to not only make in-demand content but make it on-demand. This power shift changes the way we think about our business, industry and our viewers. We have to build our businesses around their behavior and their interests.

That’s the right attitude. There are really good soundbytes in the article and also outlines Disney’s approach regarding on-demand programming.

Link to Article