© COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT at it's worst...

Well I personally think it a bit unnerving and unnecessary that BijouWorld's response repeat (unreasonably and without basis, in my personal opinion) such terms as "slanderous" over and over again.

Not only because I didn't really read anything in the other posts that were slanderous, but also because it seems to suggest and imply BijouWorld's threatening these other studios with legal action amidst professing to be against that very thing.

Further, I'm not sure one company can infringe upon the First Amendment rights of another company. The First Amendment exists to protect citizens from government, not individual companies from one another. If the general idea behind the First Amendment were to apply to civil matters, there would be no such thing as copyright and trademark and, even, slander or libel, for that matter.

Further still, I wonder if a company can claim a kind of journalistic, documentary and historical purpose for their usage of others' material when it is being used within the context of a for-profit website and operation. Fact of the matter is, items are sold, revenues generated, and profits made on the website being discussed. Can you really thus claim it's only historical documentation that guides that site?

And the paragraph about the legal costs and what not... that just seemed somewhat petty.

I'm not trying to take sides or anything, and I can respect BijouWorld's history and the role they've played in their near-40 year existence and how they're indeed an institution in the figurative sense, though a business in the literal. But if one company says they don't want their stuff on your for-profit website, I'd imagine it best to just take the stuff off then. Rather than take a higher-than-thou approach to it all or make claims and threats that conflict with one's own implied intentions.

My 2 cents.

Thank you Steve for posting a response...

Our packages and discs are all very clearly labeled...and are protected by copyright.

This does not give anyone the "right" to reproduce our images or DVDs in any way shape or form.

Just because we have images in public view and are part of "gay history" does not mean that anyone can purchase our videos or images and reproduce them without our consent...

It is a simple as that...

Plus, when Bijou posts our images along with a caption reading "DVD is no longer available" the implication is that the dvd is no longer available (anywhere)...there are no links to our store, to our distributor, The French Connection or anywhere else that sells our videos. How does this help us...

It doesn't.

That's the plain truth of the matter.

[QUOTE=BijouWorld]
Dear Mr. DeAngelo, Mr. Gardner, and Members of the Gay Adult Industry:

I am very concerned that you have made a slanderous accusation that Bijou World violated your copyright. Bijou World has never violated your ownership or copyright. We have never reproduced or pirated your films.



Mr. BijouWorld.com

I have never claimed that you have "reproduced or pirated your film..."

Geez, Steve, why don't people READ anymore....

Please go over our "cease and desist" one more time

I have asked you to remove our BOX COVERS and any reference thereto and our company!

Since you according to you guys "the DVD is no longer available" we couldn't even recall them if we wanted to!

And, for the record, you have never bought a copy of our movies from either us or our dstributor...and again, even if had bought a copy somewhere, this does not give you the right to reproduce any part without our consent.

As a "librarian" you should know this...

Come on now, fess up, you just stole our cover images, there's no nice way of saying that I guess, and you are using our good, hard earned name and reputations as a business and as performers to draw traffic to a DEAD END.

Anthony DeAngelo
ZyloCo, Inc.

Well with all that hot air from the editor of Bijouwold about there company "not distributing bareback titles"

They sure look like they are in the bareback business, by putting bareback titles in there store at all. Whether they sell them or not.
Talk about saying one thing and doing another.

Other websites like TLA at least have the balls to say that they don't support us and stick to there guns. They don't use our name and titles to drive people to there store.

As Anthony has asked before, "is this a form of flattery?" Or are they that depurate for hits?

thanks Cam...its just more of the same from the industry...

I'm not the law professor in the family, we already have too many practicing attorneys that like to argue cases at holiday dinners…..!

I'm not an attorney, I'm only a …creative director, producer, performer, designer, director, caterer, fluffer, editor, writer, musician…and damn good cook (and good devoted lover...)!

But, since we are on the topic of Copyright…The United States Copyright Office has something to say on this topic…since they can't be here in person, let us review the source for some fundamental principals of Copyright protection under United States Law…

READ THIS! And I quote…

"Two General Principles

* Mere ownership of a book, manuscript, painting, or any other copy or phonorecord does not give the possessor the copyright. The law provides that transfer of ownership of any material object that embodies a protected work does not of itself convey any rights in the copyright.

Minors may claim copyright, but state laws may regulate the business dealings involving copyrights owned by minors. For information on relevant state laws, consult an attorney."

Please review the law and explanation at the site link below…this could come in handy for some folks out there that think they KNOW what they are doing…

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wci


WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of "original works of authorship," including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

*

To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;
*

To prepare derivative works based upon the work;
*

To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
*

To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
*

To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and
*

In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.



….WHO CAN CLAIM COPYRIGHT

Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.

..."switch & bait" is common practice in mainstream ( thanks k-m*rt ) it really shouldn't come as a surprise in adult.
the problem lies in advertising something you don't have and/or using someone's product as the "switch" ( can you say "raincheck" ) just to get people to come.
it's deceptive! , it's immoral! , it's advertising!

sincerely ~ ..."we regret this product is sold out , however as a store special we have replaced it with this product , an added savings to you!"... :goof:

p.s ~ i do not support this aggressive campaign of advertising which is probably why i am not as huge as "w*lmart" ( interpreted: it is no secret that people are food driven , a simple free "hot dogs & c*ke" will drive more traffic to your store than any toaster , hell! , you could probably get "c*ke" to supply free just for advertising purposes )

I just wish that in the year since I sent screeners, e-mail and calls to Bijou to see if they'd carry some of my titles, that I would have received an acknowledgement at least.

So Nick, are you saying that they wont put your "condom" stuff on there site that they could sell. But will put bareback titles on there that they wont sell.
hmmmm?!

I shoot softcore. (As you can see from browsing my sites).

I offered them two titles that sold 500 copies on TLA.


I'll tell ya the #2 reason why I've got 100+ titles on VOD on AEBN, X On Demand and gay Hot Movies:

The DVD distributors and websites either (or all): Don't acknowledge receipt of screeners, return phone calls, or reply to e-mails.

I posted a comment a year ago on one of these message boards that the DVD biz is dead because the DVD distributors are asleep.

Either that, or they think they need to act as "EDITORS" to pick and choose what titles to sell...

OR, they have otherwise illegal deals with some Producers to keep other studies out of the biz.

Either way, it all points to VOD as the medium of choice for Producers and Consumers. Long live Free Enterprise economics.


For those interested, the #1 reason why I have 100+ titles on VOD: they reply to calls and e-mails!

Yes Nick...

You are absolutely correct...many of the bigger studios do tend to "muscle" their way into Brick and Mortar stores - and have even been known to try and "high heel" their way in...if you catch my drift..

This is why I started the thread relevant to the "Chi Chi and partners" buy-out, take over, call it what you will...

Similar to when I was involved with the AT&T divesture in the early 80's (from the design and advertising point of view) - look at these companies now, after splitting up and splitting again, and again and buying this and that...they are just all back together again in a BIGGER and BROADER sense.

more of the same and as I always like to say....plus ça change, plus ça change, plus ça change...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BijouWorld

Zyloco and Hot Desert Knights films are sold on the commercial market and are part of the history the gay film industry. At Bijou World, we sell and catalog and review as many gay films as possible that were made since 1970. From 1982 up through 1995, Bijou World had printed the Bijou Catalog (colloquially known as “The Gay Bible”). Now all those reviews and more are on our website, not including Studio introductions (which were in the printed catalog) which will be added soon with articles on the history and evolution of gay adult films.

Our primary purpose is to research, restore, and preserve gay sexuality and history. [/I]”


Steven Toushin
President
Bijou World

---

If the box covers were in reviews, and with proper credits, this wouldn't be an issue. What you've done is gather up titles of dvd's that you do not carry and have added them to your DVD STORE (not a review article), and have them appearing to be "no longer available", when in fact, you never carried them at all.

Bottom line, someone spent a few days figuring out the biggest draws for certain keywords, saved the boxcovers, listed the stars, and used it to boost SE ranking for those keywords within the store. In this case: barebacking, bareback, videos, movies, dvds and a few pornstar names that draw good SE returns and aren't avail in any of your movies to date.

While the traffic and SE strategy was a sound one - the implementation of the titles in your store front definately shows a lack of ethics and good sense soley on the basis that you never carried the titles, and probably never intended to.

I'm guessing the "no longer available" wasn't meant to convey the titles were no longer being distributed, but hell, just saying "currently out of stock" would of presented a whole different perception.

And this is without even going into whether you do or don't support barebacking. Bottom line, it's a huge SE term, and you and many others looked for every method available to use it for traffic purposes. Cheat the SE and use bait and switch tactics on the traffic generated.

Are you the first? no. Last? doubtful. But what you can do is admit someone's 3 am marketing brainstorm :penny: is fucked up ... and remove titles and pages of products you'll never carry from the DVD store.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BijouWorld

There have been a lot of comments and tempers flaring...I am saddened to see that occurring in our own community. There was not a lack of response to private messages on my part; however I clarified with those inquiring with me that I needed to chat with our President, Steven Toushin, regarding the history of our policy and his position on your comments.

In response to this discussion, Steven has written the following:

Dear Mr. DeAngelo, Mr. Gardner, and Members of the Gay Adult Industry:

I am very concerned that you have made a slanderous accusation that Bijou World violated your copyright. Bijou World has never violated your ownership or copyright. We have never reproduced or pirated your films. All films when sold were bought directly from you, for which invoices are on file. To publicly make such a remark is irresponsible and damaging to Bijou World’s reputation.

Zyloco and Hot Desert Knights films are sold on the commercial market and are part of the history the gay film industry. At Bijou World, we sell and catalog and review as many gay films as possible that were made since 1970. From 1982 up through 1995, Bijou World had printed the Bijou Catalog (colloquially known as “The Gay Bible”). Now all those reviews and more are on our website, not including Studio introductions (which were in the printed catalog) which will be added soon with articles on the history and evolution of gay adult films.

With your slanderous accusations of copyright infringement, you are attempting to restrict our First Amendment right of free speech. You have put your films on the market in competition with all other films. We have reviewed some of your films like we do all others. There is nothing in our reviews that violates your copyright. Our primary purpose is to research, restore, and preserve gay sexuality and history. As a colleague in the Industry commented regarding your inflammatory comments towards us, “[Bijou World has] every right to use his box-cover artwork as ‘fair use’ because of your role as an informational database.”

Lastly, obviously you know nothing about what is involved in a federal lawsuit and what your liabilities are if the suit is unwarranted. The complaint will be filed, to which there will be an answer, then a battle to determine jurisdiction, followed by more motions leading up to depositions. Up to this point, your costs will run between $15,000 and $30,000. Do you have the money, when proven wrong, to pay for my attorney’s fee’s and damages for bringing an unwarranted, slanderous lawsuit?

Life is not so cut-and-dry and one-sided. This is why, in the past, those in our Industry behaved as gentlemen and ladies and rarely involved the courts. We would find ways to resolve our disputes amongst ourselves.

Do what you must; we will do what we must: that is continuing to document and catalog our history with honor and respect.

Sincerely Yours,

Steven Toushin
President
Bijou World

---

Steven,

If you were, as you say,solely "an informational database", rather than a for profit business operating a for profit website, then your claim of placing our box covers under the auspices of "fair use", may in fact hold water. Since you do not sell our material and state that it is "no longer available" and you use your website in a "for profit" manner, it is highly unlikely that you would be successful in a "fair use" defense should this matter escalate to legal action.

In our opinion, this is a simple matter. Your firm does not sell our films. You have posted the box covers on your site as a way to draw traffic to your site for the purposes of enhancing revenue through increased traffic. The box covers contain copyrighted images which have been properly registered with the United State Copyright Office. We have not given you permission to place our box covers containing our copyrighted images on your site with the notation that they are "NO LONGER AVAILABLE". As I stated to you in the private email I sent to you, these are to be removed no later than 12 midnight tonight or this matter will be turned over to our attorneys.

To state that: "obviously you know nothing about what is involved in a federal lawsuit", is making an incorrect assumption. We have been involved with a number of federal copyright infringement actions and we are well aware of what is involved and the costs associated with such actions, and yes, we do have the money and resolve to protect our copyrights and reputation. And, in this particular instance, where you are stating publicly that the films are NO LONGER AVAILABE, we have no choice but to take actions to protect ourselves from such unfair trade. If as you say, the Bijou Catalog is the self appointed "GAY BIBLE", I suggest to you that "THE GAY BIBLE" is incorrect since all of our films that you suggest are NO LONGER AVAILABLE, are in fact available.

As to your accusation of slander, truth is always a defense against slander and libel. While it is true that you have purchased our films in the past, you no longer sell them, you and or your associates have made numerous disparaging remarks about the bareback genre. You have no legal right to continue advertising them on a for profit website representng a for profit business under the thinly veiled guise of being "The GAY BIBLE" and self appointed documentarian of the history and evolution of gay films. As many others have stated on this board, the belief is you are using our films and those of other companies solely to generate traffic as way to increase profit. I would suggest you read the other comments posted in this thread and realize that you are only hurting yourself with these apparently transparent tactics.

Please remove our images and any reference to them from your website. Do not continue to attempt to line your pockets monetarily from our work. We have no interest in being in your "GAY BIBLE". This will resolve the issue quickly and easily. Otherwise, I must ask the same question you ask of me: "Do you have the money, when proven wrong, to pay for my attorney’s fee’s and damages?" And, do you really wish to pay such monies to defend your actions?

Sincerely and with all due respect,

William Gardner
President
Hot Desert Knights, Inc.

Nick- The DVD business is far from being over and far from being dead! We, and most other major producers, still get 40%-60% of our total revenue from DVDs sales. DVD sales still have at least another 4-5 years of viability, and that's without the new releases onto HD-DVD which will spur the DVD market again in the future.

The issue is that with the multitude of new and small producers it is hard for them to break through into the mainline adult distribution channels.

You need to remember that there were 20,000+ new adult titles released last year, and the vast majority of them will never see the shelves of most stores. Stores have limited inventory dollars and most are not willing to invest in unproven studios/products.

Online VOD vendors on the other hand will take just about any new content because they have no inventory investment dollars tied up or needed to take on new producers. All they do is pay a % when the product actaully sales. This is a business model that allows them to take on new content without much risk or investment.

My advice to you and any other newer producers is: Develop your brand online first and devleop your own direct to consumer sales. Once you have developed your brand online and have a proven track record of sales, you then have a better shot getting into distribution channels. Once you can devleop a customer/fan following that will request your content from stores, then you can get your products into stores.

I want eveyone to know that when I started with Titan, there were only 3 employees and we worked out of a garage! Over the past 8 years we have been able to grow our business to 27 full-time employees with full health care, vacation and a profit sharing plan. We have become one of the largest and most succesful gay producers in the world.

I remember what it was like being the little guy going up against the big bad evil giant of Falcon! We just kept pushing forward and let the customer decide. In our early days there were many in the industry that tried to keep us down and keep our product out of stores. We never let it bother us, we just kept pushing forward and making great content.

We did not become succesful by "illegal deals" or by using "muscle" to get into Brick and morter stores. We became successful by making a high quality consistant product that alot of people were willing to pay for. Good product will always sell, so just keep pushing and making great product.

There is no evil velvet mafia that controls the industry and decides who gets to play in the game. The customer is the ultimate decider of who gets to play and who is successful. It's the customer that decides your success, not anyone else in the industry.

Anyone with good product can succeed and become succesful...we are living proof of that! ;-)

Everyone --

Thanks for your input on this issue, that's what makes our industry great: we're not afraid to try new things out and share them with each other in an open forum. We tend to be more of a family in that way. Sometimes, families do not see eye-to-eye. Also, part of being part of a family is mutual respect.

In this light, we are removing the HDK and ZyloCo box covers from our website. Also, we had our developer create a more clear statement regarding those films rather than the standard "unavailable" message, we have changed it to state, "This film is in the Bareback genre. Information for historical purposes only." We will not be removing our statements, reviews, etc. about your films as an expression of our First Ammendment Rights.

I'd note that parts of this discussion has been in the public forum, and parts have been more private. So, there may be parts that not everyone has been a part of, however, since it was brought into the public forum by others, we felt it best to try to communicate mostly in that vein.

Personally, I am hurt that this causes a divide in our community...I guess that's the reality of the times we live in, though.

That hardly seems like a solution Ken. You will continue to draw SE traffic to your site for items you do not intend to ever sell. At least you could link to ZyloCo's and HDK's website where the items may be purchased by customers.