© COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT at it's worst...
OK…so explain this one to me…
With all of this talk about © this and © that, and BareBack this and BareBack that...
We recently discovered, yet another member of this community, who has been using our BOX COVER IMAGES without our permission on their site, to promote what...
I wish I knew what…
they DON'T SELL BareBack titles and are public about their position on BareBack
Go figure…and worse yet, the images are all accompanied by a tag line that reads "the DVD is NO LONGER AVAILABLE..." as if they carried at one time, or worse yet, we're out of copies or....God knows what...
(this holds true for other BareBack producers as well...)
Yeah right…this, my friends, is not a form of flattery but a very clever way in which to attract traffic to their store…
This is bull shit!
BaDaBing!
A Letter from Steven Toushin, President of Bijou World
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
Anthony DeAngelo Speaks Out!
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.
