Reaction Paper 5 - Fair Use Policy & JibJab

JibJab Media vs. Ludlow Music Inc.
Back in August 2004, JibJab Media (run by my brother-in-law Gregg Spridellis) found success with “This Land,” an animated parody of the Woodie Guthrie song starring George Bush & John Kerry. Ludlow Music Inc., owners of the copyright, attempted to censor the video by claiming that JibJab was mocking the original song through its use, and this was a clear violation of Fair Use, and infringed upon their intellectual property. At the time, Lawrence Lessig argued that the song was not infringing upon the copyright, because it was not mocking the song, but rather strengthening the song through parody:

“As any copyright lawyer recognizes, it is not a “parody” in the sense that “fair use” ordinarily recognizes it. A “fair use” “parody” is a work that uses a work to make fun of the author. JibJab is using Guthrie’s work not to make fun of Guthrie, but of the candidates.” (Lessig)

According to Lessig, a violation of “Fair Uses” policy involves property that remains unregulated, and gives the public the ability to copy that property for their own uses, which is protected by “Fair Uses.” For example, when I quote another person’s work in my paper, that is protected by “Fair Uses.”

That JibJab is satire because the video does not directly target the original song. Where Guthrie’s song is one of unity, the target of JibJab is politics and society, with a knowing nod to the original song’s intent. This goes back to Lawrence Lessig’s chapter on Property. If not for the Internet, and its ability to reach a mass audience, this web animation would not have been seen by more than a dozen viewers. If there were no mass exposure, the issue would not have come up. But because of the reach of the Internet, the word of mouth marketing helped it spread quickly. Also, the internet platform enabled JibJab to create a video that blended animation and a music parody.

As a strict interpreter of the constitution, Lessig has become the leading proponent in Congress for regulations of copyright law and amendments to the current laws. He himself said that the rules of the game changed because of the advent of the Internet. Now, with the collective intelligence of the internet audience, through mashups and mock-ups and JibJab-style parody videos, those copyright laws will become increasingly murky.

With regards to the outcome of the suit, JibJab made a concession to provide a link on their Web site to the song’s original lyrics and to donate 20 percent of any profits to the Woody Guthrie Foundation.

On top of that, Woody Guthrie himself put the following copyright notice on his work: “This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright # 154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don’t give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that’s all we wanted to do.”

This Land song: http://www.jibjab.com/originals/this_land

Tags: Copyright laws, Fair Use, Lawrence Lessig, This Land, Woody Guthrie