MEMES


Referencing a number of YouTube videos that switch out the subtitles of the German World War II film Der Untergang (Downfall) to humorous effect, she says: “Te challenge with Internet memes is when somebody remixes a video by splicing it up to make it look funnier.


“Teir choice of editing involves creative


decisions, and so if a third party came along, and took that wholesale and repeated it, they technically wouldn’t be making their [own] editorial choices.”


Although attributing your work to the original creator is not required by law, it can help keep a meme creator out of an infringement lawsuit.


Ahrens adds that the creators of original


works may be concerned about losing control of their works, or about their works being unfavourably associated with something else. But how practically possible is it for an original content creator to shut down a meme if he or she wanted to?


“It is becoming more and more difficult as the technology improves,” she says, comparing the endeavour to a game of whack-a-mole. “However there are lots of new tools. In the US we have new rules and agreements between Internet service providers and content creators where repeat offenders will have their Internet cut off.”


Content creators have to be vigilant as the cost of policing the Internet is so high, she says. Fortunately for copyright holders on the Internet, there are licensing agents who have emerged to help creators of the most prolific Internet virals protect their IP.


Former finance lawyer Damien Collier founded Viral Spiral in 2011, a company which provides


the makers of viral videos with a service that includes handling licensing requests, advertising revenues, tracking down infringers and assisting in developing a brand around the meme.


TB&I asked Viral Spiral’s chief operating officer Daniel Fisher: “Considering how easy it is to remain anonymous on the Internet, is it a difficult task finding the rights owners to the videos, and in turn any copyright infringers?”


“Not every copyright owner can be found but there are ways of identifying who an original copyright owner is based on a number of benchmarks Viral Spiral has developed, and using social media, it is reasonably easy to verify the information,” he said.


Viral Spiral adopts its own research methods to track down infringers, identifying places


where infringement is common, as well as using tools provided by YouTube, such as the Content ID service. Many of its methods are private.


YouTube’s Content ID identifies videos that comprise, partly or entirely, rights owners’ content by


checking similar metadata the data files that are created at


on the time of


the video’s upload and notifies the copyright owners, or their licensing agents. Rights owners then have the option either to monetise their content, or block the offending video.


Fisher adds: “We also ask that our copyright owners are vigilant and report infringements to us so that we can assess them and take action if appropriate.”


One video in Viral Spiral’s portfolio is the most watched (non-music video) clip on YouTube. ‘Charlie Bit My Finger’ has earned its creator $500,000 since it was uploaded to the site in 2007, and has created a rash of parodies and copies that might have otherwise gone unchecked.


Te meme’s nebulous nature and reliance on social networking situates it somewhat outside the traditional realm of copyright enforcement. For example, a meme’s value could be defined in different terms from traditional creative works, where it is only as valuable as the Internet users who have made the effort to pass it along. Memes thrive on sharing; without it they will never reach their memetic status.


With the Internet rapidly changing the way we interact with content, along with the growing preference for access rather than ownership, there could soon be a call for review of copyright laws on the Internet. 


www.worldipreview.com


Trademarks Brands and the Internet Volume 2, Issue 1


23


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