Let the ranting begin!
At the risk of sounding obtuse. What can people be thinking?
After seeing my first post up and in print, I was reminded to look into what MLW had told me had happened to the “Spoiler Slayer” site. To sum up: the author had spent three years updating the rabid fans of Buffy and Angel, and later Dead Like Me and Tru Calling. The site was a source of enjoyment for my wife during the halcyon days of TV when Whedon had three shows on at once.
It seems that 20 Century Fox Hacks have sent this person a “Cease and Desist” letter relating to copyrighted images (including of the DVD series for an Amazon banner) and spoiler information (by now reduced to Tru Calling).
COME AGAIN?
I thought that for executives, viewership (and hence advertising dollars) was the goal. Someone explain to me (and I hope it can be done) how ANY of this information does anything but increase the viewership of these shows? Or sell DVD’s? I know that the people who used the site were never doing so instead of watching the show. I am not one that used the site, but I can’t see how this seemingly harmless hobby can be taking one cent from the coffers of 20th Century Fox.
Now I am a viewer of SaveFarscape.com, which, it can reasonably be claimed, was instrumental in bringing this series back to TV in mini-series form. They do many of the same things there that got Spoiler Slayer in trouble, but so far have been unmolested. Could it be because Henson and Scifi are willing to let others engage in some FREE ADVERTISING for their product? Take a gander:
“This special television event would not be a reality were it not for the tireless, unwavering efforts of the Farscape fans to bring the series back. Like all of us at The Jim Henson Company, they believed that the epic story we were telling was something special and deserved a proper ending. We are thrilled to respond to their dedication by creating this miniseries, thus resolving many of the unanswered questions from the final episode and giving fans their just due.” —- Brian Henson
Why oh why must these corperations spend so much time and energy lining their legal departments’ pockets at the expense of their (rabidly loyal!) fans? It seems that many of these 20th century modes of communication are completely oblivious to the potential that the internet presents, both for information and advertising.
Must remember rule #1. People. Are. Stupid.
