Lawyers. They're the real "Debbie Downers" of this world. The fellas over at YouTube have been told by NBC that they can no longer play the now-infamous Lazy Sunday rap from
SNL. That rap was huge for SNL, which has been at rock bottom for several years now. After it aired on Dec. 17, Lazy
Sunday spread rapidly on the web, including at YouTube, which reportedly had 1.2 million downloads of the video
within ten days. The popularity of the rap led to an article in the New
York Times about the song and the "viral" power the internet has when people think something is cool. NBC
finally got a clue and put the video on its website (for Windows
users only) and in iTunes, where it now costs $1.99 to download.Boing Boing has a really good argument about why NBC should be "sending flowers and chocolates to YouTube, not love notes from lawyers."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-17-2006 @ 7:03PM
Cursor said...
***NEWS FLASH*** Traditional Media Outlets Don't Get the New Media. This video has nearly singlehandedly revived SNL. Now if it could just be this funny consistently, it could be culturally relevant again.
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2-17-2006 @ 8:18PM
LC said...
I agree with Cursor. I have not watched SNL for a few years and any news I have heard of the show was that it was almost as bad as the Anthony Michael Hall days of the eary to mid 80's. Here they have a video sketch floating that actually brings a glow of hope to attract viewers and what do they do? The send in the clowns er lawyers to bully anyone hosting it.
There are entertainers that would kill for that kind of free advertising.
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2-17-2006 @ 8:46PM
Nicki said...
Does NBC not realize that not only did THEY put the rap up for free on itunes at first, but that they also were very pleased with the views it had been getting on youtube as well? I'm so sick of all this crap. If people want to download things, let them, dammit. Exposure is a GOOD thing.
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2-17-2006 @ 9:39PM
doc said...
That is perfect big media behaviour. They realize what is going on 5 minutes after it is over and scramble to capatalize on it. In the process they gain none of the benefits of the hot property, but once again manage to garner more ill will from their customers. Good show NBC! Your table at the RIAA/MPAA technology symposium is reserved, I am sure.
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2-18-2006 @ 7:22AM
sam said...
Um...I'm pretty sure they made the video available for about a month on iTunes for free. Because that's where I got it. They called it a holiday present at the time. The fact that months later, they want to make some money off of it from the folks who didn't get on the bandwagon a while ago doesn't exactly bother me.
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2-18-2006 @ 10:55AM
Jakkson said...
I loved the Lazy Sunday rap, and I would still like to see it on youtube. The stuff was posted by people that actually watched and then recorded, so then other people made knock-offs of it. I don't want to watch some 17-year-old trying to make it funnier... because they don't. Just bring back the original, and let us watch it! P.S.-I wonder if they'll take the other SNL skits off youtube, too...
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2-18-2006 @ 2:23PM
Atticus said...
Why is it that they don't understand that exposure is a GOOD thing? This video is helping SNL not harming.
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2-19-2006 @ 1:14AM
Rollo said...
In a weird twist, The *official* youtube group of The Lonely Island was also given the same treatment, not only for Lazy Sunday, but for something as simple as an interview with Samberg.
Ridiculous
http://www.youtube.com/group/thelonelyisland for a look.
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2-21-2006 @ 5:25PM
ErricZ said...
More proof that old-media companies will be sinking faster and faster ... reminds me of a certain metal group that sued Napster even though "music sharing" is how they got their start ... *eyeroll*
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