Everyone remember that kid who videotaped himself making a fool of himself playing with a light saber? Some other kids put the video on the Internet and now he is in therapy. His parents are also apparently suing for damages.
But I realized that his video automatically was fully protected under US copyright. So could he sue people for copying, redistributing and altering it? Or is that fair use?
Just wondering.
Thanks.
Yes, he could sue for copyright infringement. And it doesn’t matter whether the infringers used it on a commercial site or not.
Fair use might apply if the tape was used by a news outlet as news, but otherwise, no.
I have no idea who or what you’re talking about, but I imagine it’s pretty hard to sue for copyright infringement of material you didn’t copyright. Did this kid copyright this video?
Your view of copyright law is outdated by about 30 years, at least as it applies in the United States under the Copyright Act of 1976 and to the other signatories of the Berne Convention.
Under current law, there is no need “to copyright” a work. Exclusive rights given to authors of original works of authorship inure as soon as that work is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. The phrase in use in the 1970s was that you have a copyright “as soon as you lift your pen off the paper.”
The work is under copyright. However, the key question is whether the kid registered his copyright.
If he registered it, he can sue any infringer and get both penalties (for the infringement alone; he does not have to prove damage) and his legal costs.
If he didn’t register it, he can force the infringer to stop making any more copies, and can get damages if he can prove actual damage (which is almost impossible to prove even in the best of cases), and has to pay for his legal fees himself.
My guess is that he didn’t bother to register it, which means, in practical terms, it isn’t worth his while to sue anyone.
Frankly, with a name like Ghyslain Raza, the kid was doomed to a life of ridicule long before he picked up his first broom handle.
That remark was unnecessarily nasty in my opinion and reflects a rather callous attitude towards the ethnic group that his name reflects – I’m not sure what it is, but that’s not the point. I’ll refrain from reporting this post on the assumption that you didn’t mean it that way, but I’d caution you to be careful before making fun of a person’s name.
From the fact that he lives in Quebec, I’d hazard a guess that the name Ghyslain is French. Don’t know about the last name though.
I don’t know how he could sue for copyright infringement, though. Wouldn’t he have to show that he was damaged by the loss of income that specifically would have accrued from his created work?..yeah, I know, I sound like a lawyer. Probably should have been one.
But in any event you’ll see from the link above, that a number of sympathetic people have rallied to his cause. He certainly deserves it after what he went through.
No, he would not.
Frankly, getting angry on behalf of an ethnic group you can’t identify (nor can I) is the very definition of unnecessary.
That said, the post was inappropriate for GQ and I apologise to any I may have offended.
In the US, he would.
U.S. copyright law: Copyright infringement and remedies. Although U.S. copyright law allows remedies based on damages, it does not require that damages be claimed.
Actually, it sounds like a great Star Wars style name to me.
If he tried to sue-actually, could LFL sue him for copyright infringment?
No, Lucasfilms Ltd. could not sue him for infringement. He’s not using dialogue, costumes, or characters that belong to Lucasfilms Ltd. He’s waving around a pole. Last time I checked, Lucasfilms Ltd. did not buy up the worldwide rights to waving around a pole in a martial arts manner.
Theoretically. But you need more than a bare right to make suing worthwhile, you have to be able to get damages sufficient to make the emotional, temporal and financial cost worthwhile.
And who would he sue?
Walloon, please update your cache. LFL does indeed own the rights to waving around a pole in a martial arts manner. 
PS Does anyone else have missing smilies on the reply page? Wally, dubious, smack and happy jew.
" George Lucas Successfully Sues [92-Year Old Woman](satirical non-link#1) for having wrinkled skin, being hunched over with a small cane and having the hem of her robe trailing behind her on the ground, all in a clear case of Theft of Yoda Identity."
" Lucasfilm Ltd. wins landmark case against [Drakes’ Pastry Company, Inc.](satirical non-link#2) , prohibiting them from ever producing or selling their Large Cinnamon Rolls ever again. Founder George Lucas was quoted as saying,
"
I rest my case.
Yes, Ghyslain is a perfectly good, and probably somewhat common, French name. I also don’t know about the last name, since I’ve never head it before. Might be another ethnic name, or it may just be a French surname that isn’t common in French communities outside Quebec. Doesn’t sound French, though.