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==Controversy==
==Controversy==
eBaum's World has been the subject of significant controversy in many Internet communities due to numerous incidents of content being taken from other sites, such as [[YTMND]], [[Something Awful]], [[Albino Blacksheep]], [[Olde English (sketch comedy)|Olde English]], [[Fark]], [[Newgrounds]] and [[Cracked]], without attribution. For example, Olde English always finishes their videos with a screen that states that "This video is protected under a [[Creative Commons]] License"; in more than one video copied from Olde English to eBaum's World, the final screen is cut out of the video, whereas YouTube and other video sites have it in to credit the creators. Companies such as [[Viacom]],<ref name="court tv">{{cite web |url=http://www.courttv.com/news/cow/022603_prankcalls_ctv.html |title=Is Judge Judy calling you? A media giant wants to know. |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML |publisher=Turner Entertainment Digital Network, Inc. }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20021115120705/www.ebaumsworld.com/legalsoundboards.html |title=Re: Ebaumsworld.com |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML |last=Levitt|first=Mallory |date=2002-11-13}}</ref> [[20th Century Fox]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20050303004436/www.ebaumsworld.com/grapefall-legal.html |title=legal - Grape Stomping Video |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML |date=2004-04-28 }}</ref> and [[Sega]] have all claimed that eBaum's World has infringed on their copyrights as well. Eric Bauman denies critics' claims that the site's content is stolen, citing research done by site editors and the consent form that must accompany uploads of material. He claims to honor all requests to remove unauthorized material [http://www.ebaumsworld.com/response-01-10-05.html], but this is contested by some content creators. In particular, web artist and animator [[Jonti Picking]], was only able to have his animations removed at the beginning of 2006. [http://www.ebaumsworld.com/flash/santabadger.html] Bauman has claimed that he formerly worked with Picking, though Picking has stated that this is false.[http://www.ebaumsworldsucks.com/chatlog.php] [http://ebaumsworldsucks.com/hypocrisy.php]
eBaum's World has been the subject of significant controversy in many Internet communities due to numerous incidents of content being taken from other sites, such as [[YTMND]], [[Something Awful]], [[Albino Blacksheep]], [[Olde English (sketch comedy)|Olde English]], [[Fark]], [[Newgrounds]] and [[Cracked]], without attribution. For example, Olde English always finishes their videos with a screen that states that "This video is protected under a [[Creative Commons]] License"; in more than one video copied from Olde English to eBaum's World, the final screen is cut out of the video, whereas YouTube and other video sites have it in to credit the creators. Companies such as [[Viacom]],<ref name="court tv">{{cite web |url=http://www.courttv.com/news/cow/022603_prankcalls_ctv.html |title=Is Judge Judy calling you? A media giant wants to know. |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML |publisher=Turner Entertainment Digital Network, Inc. }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20021115120705/www.ebaumsworld.com/legalsoundboards.html |title=Re: Ebaumsworld.com |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML |last=Levitt|first=Mallory |date=2002-11-13}}</ref> [[20th Century Fox]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20050303004436/www.ebaumsworld.com/grapefall-legal.html |title=legal - Grape Stomping Video |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML |date=2004-04-28 }}</ref> and [[Sega]] have all claimed that eBaum's World has infringed on their copyrights as well. Eric Bauman denies critics' claims that the site's content is stolen, citing research done by site editors and the consent form that must accompany uploads of material. He claims to honor all requests to remove unauthorized material [http://www.ebaumsworld.com/response-01-10-05.html], but this is contested by some content creators. In particular, web artist and animator [[Jonti Picking]], was only able to have his animations removed at the beginning of 2006. [http://www.ebaumsworld.com/flash/santabadger.html] Bauman has claimed that he formerly worked with Picking, though Picking has stated that this is false.[http://www.ebaumsworldsucks.com/chatlog.php] [http://ebaumsworldsucks.com/hypocrisy.php]{{dead link}}


A web site, EbaumsWorldSucks.com, was set up by [[Newgrounds]]/[[Something Awful]] supporters [[Neil Cicierega]], Shawn Vulliez, and Abi Rendon (a former eBaum's World employee) to document the ongoing eBaum's World controversy. The site hosted a page containing statements from content creators claiming that some of their works appear on eBaum's World without permission. Bauman has demanded that the site be taken down, a request that was ignored.
A web site, EbaumsWorldSucks.com, was set up by [[Newgrounds]]/[[Something Awful]] supporters [[Neil Cicierega]], Shawn Vulliez, and Abi Rendon (a former eBaum's World employee) to document the ongoing eBaum's World controversy. The site hosted a page containing statements from content creators claiming that some of their works appear on eBaum's World without permission. Bauman has demanded that the site be taken down, a request that was ignored.
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*On [[May 26]] [[2006]], several images from the Something Awful forums were displayed on the eBaum's World website.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/mixedup-movies.php |title=Mixed-up Movies |date=2005-07-29 |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML|first=Josh "Livestock" |last= Boruff }}</ref> The images on eBaum's World were cropped to remove the Something Awful watermark. The page was removed later in the day following multiple complaints being expressed on the eBaum's World forums. As a result, Something Awful switched to a more invasive [[Digital watermarking|watermark]] template.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/paintings-light-ii.php?page=1 |title=Paintings of Light II |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML|first=Josh "Livestock" |last= Boruff |date=2006-06-09}}</ref>
*On [[May 26]] [[2006]], several images from the Something Awful forums were displayed on the eBaum's World website.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/mixedup-movies.php |title=Mixed-up Movies |date=2005-07-29 |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML|first=Josh "Livestock" |last= Boruff }}</ref> The images on eBaum's World were cropped to remove the Something Awful watermark. The page was removed later in the day following multiple complaints being expressed on the eBaum's World forums. As a result, Something Awful switched to a more invasive [[Digital watermarking|watermark]] template.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/paintings-light-ii.php?page=1 |title=Paintings of Light II |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML|first=Josh "Livestock" |last= Boruff |date=2006-06-09}}</ref>
*In December 2006 and January 2007, individuals who identified themselves as being from eBaum's World (among other websites) "raided" [[Hal Turner]] in a [[DDoS]] attack, taking his site offline and racking up thousands of dollars of bandwidth bills, according to Turner himself.<ref name="freep">{{cite web|url=http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-njdce/case_no-2:2007cv00306/case_id-198438/|publisher=justia.com|title= HAROLD C. " HAL" TURNER v. 4CHAN.ORG et al| accessdate=2007-09-18}}</ref>
*In December 2006 and January 2007, individuals who identified themselves as being from eBaum's World (among other websites) "raided" [[Hal Turner]] in a [[DDoS]] attack, taking his site offline and racking up thousands of dollars of bandwidth bills, according to Turner himself.<ref name="freep">{{cite web|url=http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-njdce/case_no-2:2007cv00306/case_id-198438/|publisher=justia.com|title= HAROLD C. " HAL" TURNER v. 4CHAN.ORG et al| accessdate=2007-09-18}}</ref>




==eBaum's World on television==
==eBaum's World on television==

Revision as of 00:10, 19 August 2008

eBaum's World
File:Ebaums logo.png
Type of site
Entertainment website
OwnerZvue Corporation
Created byeBaum's World Inc.
Revenue$10 million/year [1]
URLhttp://www.ebaumsworld.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional

eBaum's World (subtitled "Media for the masses") is a website featuring media such as videos, Flash cartoons and web games. It is highly controversial for many reasons, primarily because content on the website is taken from other sources without permission and rebranded with the eBaum's World logo.[1] The site, which was originally co-owned by Eric "eBaum" Bauman and his father, Neil Bauman, of Rochester, New York, ranks in the top 1000 sites on the Internet according to the website Alexa.[2] On August 2, 2007, eBaum's World was acquired by Zvue Corporation in a complex deal involving stock and $15 million in cash.[3]

Features

eBaum's World has a very large forum community and a store which sells eBaum merchandise. This site also has a very large collection of Flash movies, games, and prank phone calls, some of which have been taken from other websites without permission. Some of the more famous ones are the Mr. Bergis prank calls and Peanut Butter Jelly Time (despite the creator's explicit statements that he does not want it hosted on eBaum's World).[4]

Controversy

eBaum's World has been the subject of significant controversy in many Internet communities due to numerous incidents of content being taken from other sites, such as YTMND, Something Awful, Albino Blacksheep, Olde English, Fark, Newgrounds and Cracked, without attribution. For example, Olde English always finishes their videos with a screen that states that "This video is protected under a Creative Commons License"; in more than one video copied from Olde English to eBaum's World, the final screen is cut out of the video, whereas YouTube and other video sites have it in to credit the creators. Companies such as Viacom,[5][6] 20th Century Fox,[7] and Sega have all claimed that eBaum's World has infringed on their copyrights as well. Eric Bauman denies critics' claims that the site's content is stolen, citing research done by site editors and the consent form that must accompany uploads of material. He claims to honor all requests to remove unauthorized material [2], but this is contested by some content creators. In particular, web artist and animator Jonti Picking, was only able to have his animations removed at the beginning of 2006. [3] Bauman has claimed that he formerly worked with Picking, though Picking has stated that this is false.[4] [5][dead link]

A web site, EbaumsWorldSucks.com, was set up by Newgrounds/Something Awful supporters Neil Cicierega, Shawn Vulliez, and Abi Rendon (a former eBaum's World employee) to document the ongoing eBaum's World controversy. The site hosted a page containing statements from content creators claiming that some of their works appear on eBaum's World without permission. Bauman has demanded that the site be taken down, a request that was ignored.

On one occasion, users from the YTMND, Somethingawful, 4chan and Newgrounds launched a denial-of-service attack against the site.[8][9]

Timeline of controversies

  • As early as 2003, Eric Bauman was threatened by legal action by corporations, citing unauthorized use of trademarked names or copyrighted material. One notable case involved the soundboards and the audio used within them.[5]
  • In early 2005, Hasbro sent a cease-and-desist letter claiming that the GI Joe parody videos, originally made by independent producer FenslerFilm, violated their registered trademarks and copyrights. The videos were not removed, since FenslerFilm did not face any legal action.
  • Since November 2005, several arguments between eBaum's World forum members and Something Awful forum members have occurred concerning the posting of "Photoshop Phriday" images on eBaum's World without permission.
  • On January 6 2006, eBaum's World hosted and watermarked a Lindsay Lohan montage created by Derek Lutz (of YTMND), while crediting neither him nor YTMND. Users from YTMND responded by disrupting the eBaum's World forums with spam posts and DDoS attacks. On January 10, eBaum's World alleged the attacks were a form of "cyber-terrorism", and on January 11, Neil Bauman stated publicly that arrests were being made in relation to the attacks (though none have been made public as of yet.) Max Goldberg, owner of YTMND, and Neil Bauman eventually came to an agreement, with Bauman agreeing to remove the montage from his website, and in return, for Goldberg removing any reference to "eBaum" from his website. Despite the resolution, both sites experienced DDoS attacks on the morning of January 12, 2006.
  • On February 23 2006, Michael Parker, an eBaum's World representative, appeared on G4's Attack of the Show to try to clear up the recent controversy with YTMND. Kevin Pereira, co-host of the show, asked Parker explicit questions about the alleged infringing.[10] Parker claimed:

There aren't any written rules or regulations. We're trying to do our due diligence and do the things that we feel are right by not taking other people's material without crediting them or contacting them first. We try to...we contact all these people. Like if we something we like, like a game, we don't just put it on our site. We contact these people. And if you notice with all our new Flash games, we have our own intro in them, and it's done by the creators and we pay them for that.

  • On May 26 2006, several images from the Something Awful forums were displayed on the eBaum's World website.[11] The images on eBaum's World were cropped to remove the Something Awful watermark. The page was removed later in the day following multiple complaints being expressed on the eBaum's World forums. As a result, Something Awful switched to a more invasive watermark template.[12]
  • In December 2006 and January 2007, individuals who identified themselves as being from eBaum's World (among other websites) "raided" Hal Turner in a DDoS attack, taking his site offline and racking up thousands of dollars of bandwidth bills, according to Turner himself.[13]

eBaum's World on television

On January 24 2006, USA Network made a deal with the Fox Television Studios to create a television program based on eBaum's World. Producers described it as a late-night companion special to air with WWE RAW featuring clips from the website, as well as new and exclusive content including interviews with former and current eBaum's World subjects. The Show was to feature former TechTV Host Martin Sargent of Unscrewed and professional wrestler Chris Jericho. The show was being executive produced by Simon Andreae through his production company, The Incubator, in association with Fox Television Studios. The cease and desist letters from this company were removed when this show was announced.[14]

On February 27 2006, a researcher named Bradley Scott from eBaum's World TV show contacted the webmaster of Albino Blacksheep, asking the webmaster to sign over the site's content while refusing to admit what show it was for. The producer of eBaum's World television show finally admitted who he was but did not directly acknowledge the content that appears on eBaum's World, including Albino Blacksheep's. The webmaster recorded samples of these calls for their message boards.[15]

The show's pilot was expected to air in August 2006, but USA passed on the pilot.[16]

Other endeavors

Since July 2004, eBaum's World has sponsored professional boxer Hasim Rahman.[17]

In May 2008, Eric Bauman and his father Neil announced plans to use money from the eBaum's World website to finance a Main Street makeover for his home town of Webster, New York. [6]

References

  1. ^ "Ebaum's World Sucks (mirror site) language=English". Retrieved 2008-02-29. {{cite web}}: Missing pipe in: |title= (help)
  2. ^ http://alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?q=&url=ebaumsworld.com Alexa
  3. ^ http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-handheld-to-acquire-ebaums-world-for-17-million paidcontent.org
  4. ^ Wired
  5. ^ a b "Is Judge Judy calling you? A media giant wants to know" (HTML). Turner Entertainment Digital Network, Inc. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  6. ^ Levitt, Mallory (2002-11-13). "Re: Ebaumsworld.com" (HTML). Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  7. ^ "legal - Grape Stomping Video" (HTML). 2004-04-28. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  8. ^ "Ebaumsworld assiégé" (in French). Le Lézard. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  9. ^ "Lindsay Lohan causes massive DoS war". Vitalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  10. ^ "G4 - Attack of the Show - The Ebaum's World Interview". 2006-02-24. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  11. ^ Boruff, Josh "Livestock" (2005-07-29). "Mixed-up Movies" (HTML). Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  12. ^ Boruff, Josh "Livestock" (2006-06-09). "Paintings of Light II" (HTML). Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  13. ^ "HAROLD C. " HAL" TURNER v. 4CHAN.ORG et al". justia.com. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  14. ^ Fox Intellectual Property Department (April 28, 2004). "Legal - Grape Stomping Video". eBaum's World. Archived from the original on 2005-03-03. Retrieved 2007-07-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Sample calls on Albino Blacksheep's forums
  16. ^ "Chris Jericho Dealt Another Blow, SmackDown Rating Increases, The Rock..." Rajah.com. September 25, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ "Internet Meets Boxing… Again!" (PDF) (Press release). eBaum's World. March 13, 2006. The relationship between Hasim Rahman and eBaum's World goes back to July 2004 when Eric Bauman met Rahman in Rochester, NY... {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)


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