There is a crime taking place right now that I would like to bring to your attention. No, it’s not the horrible slaughter of dozens of old ladies in my basement. You will never find out about that. Instead, it’s a crime that has been taking place for quite awhile but which has not gotten enough attention.
Some of you may remember the internet “war” that took place between Eric Bauman(of ebaumsworld.com fame) and ytmnd.com. Basically, Bauman finds content that is enjoyed by other people, puts an eBaum watermark on it, and claims it as his own. Then, he throws the content up on his site and rakes in money for content he didn’t create, nor did he credit the original creators. Instead of copying the details of this story, which has been told on countless other sites, here’s a rundown for people who don’t know anything.
I bring this up because eBaum recently did this shit again, but this time I really like the victims,
Albino Blacksheep. eBaum posted a video from there, removed the credits to the author, added an eBaum watermark, and has so far refused to take it down. It’s almost like the guy is TRYING to make people hate him.
I know what you’re probably thinking. You’re probably picking your nose and wondering why people are making such a big deal about this, when a similar crime is commited every time someone downloads music illegally. Well, it’s a valid question and it isn’t as simple as it sounds. I’d like to quote the forum user Idhotsoup from digg.com on this one, because he stated it so well:
There’s a difference in perspective for these issues, which is mostly understood but is going unsaid.
People fight the RIAA because they’re a giant corporate conglomerate that gleams millions of dollars off of their artists and consumers, for playing the obsolete role of the middleman. The fight with the RIAA is more about archaic business models than it is stolen goods. Mind you, when you pirate a song from Barenaked Ladies, you still know that the Barenaked Ladies made the song.
The fight against eBaum’s World is about independent artists creating works that are often times already offered for free and general use, but are having their names stripped of it and credit going to someone else. This is a case where the artist doesn’t just lose out financially, but is robbed of their creative identity as well.
eBaum watermarks property that doesn’t belong to him. There’s a whole extra level of shadiness besides piracy going on here.
I couldn’t have said it better myself, which is why I made no attempt to do so. In addition, erkokite went on to say:
The issue here is that when someone downloads music, they are almost always using it for personal use only. And in many cases the artists actually benefit from increased exposure to their music. Nobody is stealing the artists’ work and taking credit from it, and very few people actually use the music for commercial purposes. Ebaums takes things without permission and claim they are the creators. Artists sue all the time over this. Very rarely do artists get upset over people downloading their music.
Sorry I seem to just be quoting others and linking other stories here, but it’s because I have yet to see a site that goes into all the details of this issue. And instead of being a fag like Mr. Bauman, I link to the original sources of my information and give credit where credit is due.
Of course, no article about this issue would be complete without the obligatory link to
eBaum’s World Sucks. It’s the catchiest, most entertaining flash video I’ve ever seen, plus it teaches an important lesson about Eric Bauman’s douche baggery.
Links to places from which he has stolen and which deserve being visited by you:
Fark
Something Awful
Albino Blacksheep
NewGrounds
Naturally, there’s way too many places to list, but these sites should occupy lots and lots of your time. Remember, anyone who visits ebaumsworld is a fucking douchebag.
-Kevin
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