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Sometimes when we post our episodes we get a notice like this from YouTube:
We know it’s just an automated notification and since our titles are similar to the films, plays and novel we parody it’s expected that red flags will inevitably pop up on our stuff when it passes through their system.
And this amuses us.
We dutifully answer every notice and provide as much detail as we can to ensure the YouTube copyright system remains fully functional – and, as our correspondence flows between Rubber Chicken Players and YouTube, we are pleased to share each and every one of them with you.
UPDATE: We’re getting ready to post some new episodes and we discovered that DEATH OF A SALESMAN and MY DINNER WITH ANDRE and SINGIN IN THE RAIN are still not allowed to be monetized. Why? We don’t understand. So we sent YouTube another request – along with a photo. Feel free to share.
Hi There!
We have THREE videos which have been denied monetization and SEVEN which have been accepted. They are all similar in their FAIR USE for PARODY and SATIRE in making short comedic videos featuring RUBBER CHICKENS. The video IDs are: lffYOQldaBl (Death Of A Salesman) and d9OT4io8iD0 (My Dinner With Andre) and jUzKna2FIMA (Singin In The Rain). We have responded earlier to each of the notices provided for these videos yet they remain “unmonetizable”. And yet our other similar videos have been accepted. They include: BRAVEHEART, THE SEVEN SAMURAI, 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY, RAGING BULL, DR. STRANGELOVE, PIRATES OF PENZANCE and AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. What is the difference? Why these THREE? Is it just that you don’t like these THREE movies?
WTF YouTube?! Please! Set our chickens free!
– c l u c k –
HERE’S OUR EARLIER CORRESPONDENCE WITH YOUTUBE:
Our comedy video Dr. Strangelove – Rubber Chicken Players is a parody of a known film and protected as an original work. Stanley Kubrick didn’t use any rubber chickens in his film but we think it might have been better if he had – after all, chicken soup is a precious bodily fluid. The puppets, props, costumes and CG sets are wholly original. The footage of the atomic explosions are in the public domain and were acquired from archive.org. The closing song is our own variation of the Vera Lynn classic “We’ll Meet Again” but in no way violates the original copyright – partly because we sang it so badly as to be almost unrecognizable, also because it’s performed by chickens – most of them hitting all the wrong notes. Every Rubber Chicken Player video makes fun of existing works of cinema, theater and literature – we make every effort to be sure no copyrights are violated.
IT’S A PARODY – WITH RUBBER CHICKENS!
Yes, we own all the commercial use rights. Thank you.
— cluck —
Hey there!
Our comedy video entitled My Dinner With Andre is a parody of a known film and is protected as an original work. The set design, script, puppet character and even the meal served are wholly original. The actor in the scene is Jim Taylor. Handsome fellow, don’t you think? He’s wholly original too. ALL of our shows are parodies of famous novels, plays and films – and they ALL star Rubber Chickens. Louis Malle directed the feature film My Dinner With Andre but he did not direct this – mostly because Louis Malle is dead. Which is sad. He was married to Candice Bergen. She’s not in this either. If Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory saw this they would both smile. I’d like to think Shawn would whisper: “Inconceivable.” Most likely Gregory would then gleefully talk for three hours about the absurdity of cultural norms in our decaying western society.
It’s a PARODY – WITH RUBBER CHICKENS.
Yes – we own all the commercial use rights. Thank you.
— c l u c k —
Rubber Chicken Players creates videos that are parodies of famous novels, plays and films and the content of every episode is wholly original. This particular episode is a parody of the 1952 MGM musical film which starred Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. That’s not Gene Kelly in this video – it’s just a rubber chicken.
In the video a rubber chicken puppet performs a brief comedic re-enactment of the classic title song dance number. The set was created in CG. Pretty impressive, right? The song the chicken clucks is a really lame and deliberately wrong version of Arthur Freed’s original song and in no way infringes on the copyright of anybody living, dead or incorporated. How lame and wrong is our version of the song? The bird gets struck by lightning. ‘Nuff said. And don’t talk to me about the dancing – that bird’s feet never once touched the floor.
It’s a PARODY – WITH RUBBER CHICKENS.
Yes – we own all the commercial use rights. Thank you.
— c l u c k —
As of December 1st, 2013, YouTube has flat out rejected this video for monetization. This makes no sense to us at all if any of our other episodes are deemed OK. Unfortunately, in their wisdom, YouTube does not have any system in place to appeal or even request changes. Boom. Door shut. Case closed. Fuck off.
We thought we made our case very clear:
Rubber Chicken Players uses rubber chickens as puppet characters to parody & satirize popular & classic film, theater, television & literature. In this particular instance we are lampooning Arthur Miller’s play “Death Of A Salesman”. The parody depiction of the play falls squarely under the definition of “fair use” & in no way compromises nor abuses any copyright. No text from the original play is used in the parody – and in Arthur Miller’s version he did not drop a safe on Willy Loman’s head. The rubber chickens were purchased from a wholesale supplier of novelty items. Similar rubber chickens have appeared in numerous film, theater & television productions throughout the years. No specific copyright is held in the image or use of rubber chickens. For all intents & purposes rubber chickens are a public domain item. All music used in our Rubber Chicken Player videos is public domain. All images, writing and performance are original content. We own it. It’s ours.
Hopefully we won’t have to do this for each and EVERY episode. LOL
— c l u c k —
