Uri Geller Not Just Taking Down Critical Videos, But Suing As Well
from the and-what-do-you-predict-will-happen? dept
A follow up to yesterday's story about the EFF suing Uri Geller for abusing the DMCA to takedown a video critical of Geller by claiming it contained 3 seconds of footage that Geller owns the copyright to (out of a total run time of about 15 minutes). Turns out that the Geller's company had actually gone beyond simply sending a DMCA takedown notice to actually suing the person it believes made the critical film in the first place. Again, the charge is copyright infringement, and Geller's company notes that they believe the clip is 10 whole seconds, rather than just 3. Of course, that doesn't change the fact that it's quite likely the clip (whether 3 or 10 seconds) is protected under fair use. One aspect of fair use is that a clip can be used for criticism -- and that seems to be exactly what's happening here. The lawsuit certainly has the appearance of bullying a critic. While someone from Geller's company denies this by pointing out that he's not suing other videos critical of Geller, this ignores the fact that the video they picked is one that's been quite popular online for a while now. So it's picking on one of the most visible critiques of Geller's supposed "psychic" powers.
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by Gwen on May 10th, 2007 @ 3:11pm
Why doesn't Uri just bend the YouTubes and clog the internets? That way he can solve his problem and prove his ability.
Ok, that's pretty silly, but so is the litigious nature that is so rampant in American society.
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Re: by Wyndle on May 10th, 2007 @ 3:34pm
Last I checked, Geller lives in the UK. I agree that this lawsuit should get bounced out of court but the way things have been going, Geller may have telepathically found a judge that would back him up.
All trivial issues aside, has he proved in a true scientific test that he can do what he claims? AFAIK, he has not. There is talk on both sides of the fence of bias and tampering with the tests so we may never be able to prove it one way or the other. Does that justify this takedown notice or lawsuit? Absolutely not. If Geller could prove beyond a shadow of doubt that he can do what he claims then Randy MIGHT stop hounding him. Before this action, Randy's tenaciousness made himself look like the bad guy. I guess this is just the culmination of a long feud.
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wyndle by johnu284 on May 10th, 2007 @ 3:46pm
its spelled Randi. and if Geller proved he could he would have 1 million dollars and randi would completely stop hounding him.
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Re: Bend the YouTubes by Anonymous Poster on May 10th, 2007 @ 3:48pm
Somehow, I bet Geller's already tried that.
Boo, stupid "psychics" who try to bully critics into shutting up.
Hooray, common sense!
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by GoblinJuice on May 10th, 2007 @ 6:17pm
Randi's cool.
Links: James Randi Educational Foundation and Wikipedia.
Oh, yeah, Uri's a cheap fake. Spoond bending is sooo lame. Kids can learn to do it. Seriously. Get some new material.
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by Overcast on May 10th, 2007 @ 6:46pm
That's not copyright related, it's simply trying to squelch free speech.
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Re: by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 9:29pm
So Uri is trying to SLAPP down Randi. Randi should find a bunch of lawyers to counter sue immediately.
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Uri by rhys on May 11th, 2007 @ 2:05am
Anyone fancy creating a class action against Uri because of the psychological damage he has caused by breaking the laws of physics?
:)
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by Cixelsid on May 12th, 2007 @ 2:41pm
This looks so primed for the Streisand Effect.
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Believes? by Charles Griswold on May 13th, 2007 @ 5:38pm
What do you mean "believes"? If Uri really is a psychic, he should know.
D'oh! :-)
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Uri Geller Not Just Taking Down Critical Videos, B by John on May 14th, 2007 @ 12:37am
This is a very nice post, and I want to see how others react to this.
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