Bob Spongee vs. Viacom

Thanks to Lindy for the heads up on this broiling copyright issue.

Troy Walker, creator of the character Bob Spongee, has sued Nickelodeon, Viacom, Paramont Studios and Stephen Hillenberg over SpongeBob SquarePants. Walker notes several similarities between Bob Spongee and SpongeBob SquarePants. In addition the the name "Bob", Walker notes the googly eyes, working class, unemployed nature of both sponges and the fact that both characters live in a house. Walker also points out that the first comic strip he distributed with his Bob Spongee doll (an actual kitchen sponge with googly eyes and a drawn on face) shared its name "Sponge for Hire" with a 2004 episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Viacom has countered that the two characters share are not substantially similar in any of their copyrightable elements. Walker is demanding $1.6 billion. Perhaps Viacom will simply endorse over the check they get from YouTube ; )

BTW/ It is interesting to compare SpongeBob's SpongeBob's Mother with Bob Spongee's daughter. Separated at birth?


bob spongee spongebob squarepants viacom Nickelodeon Hillenberg

Is YouTube Dead?

Multi-media Leviathan Viacom has just filed a $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube. Others have sued YouTube in the past, but this is the first lawsuit that could actually bring down the entire YouTube business model. I am actually surprised it has not happened sooner.

Historically, YouTube has taken refuge under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA protects Internet Service Providers (ISP) from infringement claims under certain circumstances. Viacom apparently seeks to limit those certain circumstances to something other than an unlicensed YouTube type business model.

While it is unlikely YouTube would disappear altogether, Viacom's lawsuit could force YouTube to get out of the house and get a job. If Viacom is successful, it will not be long before smaller copyright owners all pile on. There are undoubtedly thousands of copyright owners that want YouTube to be more pro-active in filtering out copyright infringing videos, but are just waiting for Viacom to take the heat and do all of the heavy lifting.

Lat month Viacom forced YouTube to remove much of its copyrighted content, such as "The Colbert Report." Then Viacom inked a deal with YouTube competitor Joost. Viacom appears to be pushing its chips "all in" on this one. Just like copyright claims stopped the Napster free ride in its tracks, so too may a judge turn YouTube into a mere shell of its present incarnation. Although this would obviously be a blow to YouTube, even more importantly it would mean I would have to look for a new hobby to fill up what portends to create a twenty hour vacuum in my work week.

Brett Trout

DMCA copyright YouTube Viacom