Blame it on Brangelina's baby

Actually, it's Perez Hilton's fault. Getting Perezzled is worse than a slashdotting. On that note, with the C&Ds found after the jump, I can say I am now in the proud company of Perez Hilton and Nick Denton. Does that make me a mediawhore?

Heh.

I actually am trying to make a serious point about the current use of copyright law. My point with this pic is very simple : invocation of the Digital Copyright Millenium Act ought not to be used as a substitute for a marketing or business plan.

Who in their right minds does not release a picture of the most famous baby in the world as part of their media and communications strategy? Not just that : who in their right mind would want to have two "exclusive" separate launches of the same photographs?

This is the age of digital globalization and as such, you have to think of worldwide strategies. That means, you launch at the same time all over the world. Yes, it takes a bit more logistics work but the payoff is huge. The computer industry understands this but nobody has milked its potential for hype more than Steve Jobs. It's why the man is a marketing genius.

People and Hello! should have synchronized their launching strategies. As it is, this C&D goes to show they've been operating under a 19th century communications model --and it is why the DCMA is a joke. It does not protect copyrights. It protects outdated and ineffective business models.

What do you think? Are they right or wrong for using copyright law to cover for their lack of a marketing strategy?

You can find the legal verborrhea after the jump.

This letter is an official notification under the provisions of Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to effect removal of the detected infringement. I hereby request that you IMMEDIATELY issue a cancel message, as specified in RFC 1036, for the specified posting and prevent the infringer, who is identified by its Web address, from posting the infringing passwords to your servers in the future. Please be advised that by law, as a service provider, you must “expeditiously remove or disable access to” the infringing passwords upon receiving this notice. Noncompliance may result in a loss of the possibility of immunity under the DMCA.

I have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of herein is not authorized by Getty Images, its licensing representatives, or the law. The information provided herein is accurate to the best of my knowledge. I hereby swear under penalty of perjury that I am authorized to act on behalf of Getty Images. for matters pertaining to notification of infringement of its exclusive rights in its copyrighted material.

You are hereby put on notice that the photograph must be removed from http://www.culturekitchen.com immediately. Please confirm by email or telephone that you have complied with your obligations under the Act by removing the photograph from http://www.culturekitchen.com.

Very truly yours,

Nancy E. Wolff
Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard LLP
41 Madison Avenue, 34th floor
New York, NY 10010
Tel: (212) 974-7474
Fax: (212) 974-8474
Email: nwolff@cdas.com

And just in case you thought is was one compan alone,

URGENT LEGAL NOTICE

I am an attorney for Time Inc., the corporate publisher of PEOPLE Magazine. PEOPLE Magazine has purchased exclusive North American rights to the only photographs which have been taken to date of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and their newborn baby girl, Shiloh Nouvel. A website hosted by your organization, Culture Kitchen, has posted one of these photographs that appears on the cover of HELLO! Magazine in violation of PEOPLE Magazine's exclusive rights (see http://www.culturekitchen.com/liza/blog/this_one_is_for_perez_hilton_check_out_the_banned_). Culture Kitchen's posting of this photograph is a clear violation of the U.S. Copyright Act.

Under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act, your organization has a legal duty to ensure that this photograph is removed from any website you host. Your failure to remove this photograph from CultureKitchen.com would be a clear violation of the Act.

YOU ARE HEREBY PUT ON NOTICE that the photograph must be removed from CultureKitchen.com immediately. Please confirm by email or telephone that you have complied with your obligations under the Act by removing the photograph from CultureKitchen.com .

Nicholas J. Jollymore
Deputy General Counsel
Time Inc.
1271 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
( (O) 212 522-3083
( (F) 212 467-0844

Jollymore? That cannot be the name of a real person.

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About author

Liza Sabater is the founder and publisher of The Daily Gotham. You can reach her at nyc.blogdiva@gmail.com.