LOS ANGELES (YBH.ME) – If you can click a mouse and follow a facebook or email link, you’ve seen them on Youtube. You watch a famous film clip of Hitler ranting in German to his cringing staff and hangers-on, with modern subtitles covering any number of current issues, from the mortgage meltdown to Kanye West. There have been over 100 parodies to date, bringing new life to the relatively obscure 2004 Hitler bio pic “Downfall.”
And now there is Hitler complaining about all the parodies:
There has been controversy about the often hilarious pieces. After all, Hitler started World War II and initiated the Holocaust. Noah Flug, chairman of the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors, reportedly sent a letter to YouTube asking that a piece in which Hitler complained about trying to find a parking space in Tel Aviv be taken down. And it was.
“Downfall”‘s producer, Constantin Film, approached at least one Hitler satirist asking them to remove their clip due to copyright infringement. However, the film’s director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, has said “I think it’s only fair if now it’s taken as part of our history, and used for whatever purposes people like.”
Under copyright fair use, a film clip can be used without permission for the purposes of criticism, humor and a host of other free speech reasons. Still, when deemed offensive, clips are removed by Youtube. A reference to “killing 6 million” in one of the parodies got it bumped, for example.
At www.youtomb.com, videos taken down by Youtube due to protests by the copyright holders can still be viewed. The site is a project of MIT”s Free Culture, a student organization. According to their site:
The free culture movement seeks to develop this culture by promoting four things:
- creativity and innovation
- communication and free expression
- public access to knowledge
- and citizens’ civil liberties.
In short, when it comes to the Internet, content is forever. If it seems Youtube and its millions of uploads have come a long way, be assured they have. The venerable Hollywood Reporter now has a blog, www.reelpopblog.com dedicated to reviewing online content.
Related posts:
- ESPN (Disney) drops Hank from MNF opening for referring to Obama as ‘Hitler’.
- MSNBC’s O’Donnell: Obama Isn’t Comparable to Stalin or Hitler, Actually Pope Benedict Is!
- Obama Campaign Likely Censoring YouTube Comments
- KT reviewing network fees on Youtube, Internet TVs
Laura spent years as a Hollywood story analyst, did a big 180, and is now an entrepreneur focused on web marketing and analytics. She's also a mom of one.Laura Glendinning article archive.
