- I'M SURE YOU HEARD
THERE'S LOTS OF STUFF GOING ON WITH APPLE THESE DAYS,
HUH? THERE'S A NEW IPHONE 6
AND AN IWATCH AND-- DON'T GET EXCITED. I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING FOR YOU. THEY'RE LIKE, "OH,
SHE'S GONNA GIVE US ONE." UH-UH. I GOT NOTHING. THEY ANNOUNCED SOMETHING
THAT'S CALLED APPLE PAY. DID YOU HEAR ABOUT APPLE PAY? IT LETS YOU BUY THINGS
RIGHT THROUGH YOUR PHONE, AND THEY'RE SAYING NOW IT'S GONNA COMPLETELY REPLACE
YOUR WALLET, WHICH IS GREAT, 'CAUSE NOBODY
EVER LOSES THEIR PHONE. [laughter] [chuckles] NO PROBLEMS WITH THAT. YOU WON'T HAVE TO CARRY CASH
OR CREDIT CARDS ANYMORE. AND I JUST WANT TO SAY, I AM HAPPY TO TAKE THOSE
OFF YOUR HANDS. YOU DON'T NEED TO CUT THEM UP
OR CANCEL THEM. PLEASE SEND THEM TO ME AT THE ADDRESS ON YOUR SCREEN
RIGHT NOW. DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE
YOUR MOTHER'S MAIDEN NAME. THANK YOU. TECHNOLOGY HAS COME
SUCH A LONG WAY. IT'S CRAZY TO THINK ABOUT IT. LIKE, A CHILD BORN TODAY MAY NEVER KNOW ABOUT CASH
OR CREDIT CARDS. I MEAN, WHAT ARE THEY GONNA
STEAL FROM THEIR MOM'S PURSE? LIKE, CIGARETTES.
THAT'S ABOUT IT. I HAVE A LITTLE
THREE-YEAR-OLD NIECE-- OR MAYBE SHE'S FOUR
OR NINE. SHE'S PRECIOUS. AND I WATCHED HER GROW UP
WITH THIS TECHNOLOGY. IT'S AMAZING,
'CAUSE KIDS LEARN SO QUICKLY. SHE USES THE IPAD BETTER THAN ANY ADULT
I'VE EVER SEEN. SHE ALSO TRIES TO EAT IT,
BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT. OBVIOUSLY,
KIDS ARE GOOD AT TECHNOLOGY 'CAUSE THEY GREW UP WITH IT,
BUT THEN I THOUGHT, "WELL, WHAT IF I INVITE
A FEW KIDS HERE, "AND I INTRODUCE THEM
TO SOME THINGS THAT I GREW UP TO SEE
IF THEY WOULD RECOGNIZE IT?" SO FIRST I INTRODUCED THEM
TO THE VERY FIRST CELL PHONE. - SO, REBECCA AND TRE, I BROUGHT AN ITEM, AND I WOULD LIKE YOU
TO TELL ME WHAT THIS IS. DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS? - A PHONE.
- I KNOW WHAT IT IS. AND IT'S NOT
ANY ORDINARY PHONE. IT'S A OLDEN TIME PHONE. - YEAH, THEY USED THAT
BACK IN THE DAY. - BACK IN THE DAY. WHEN YOU SAY "BACK IN THE DAY" AND YOU SAY "AN OLD TIME PHONE," HOW LONG AGO DO YOU THINK
THIS WAS USED? - OH, 100. - 100 YEARS AGO? - YEAH, IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE
NO FACETIME. - NO. I MEAN, YOU COULD DO IT, BUT NO ONE WOULD SEE IT. YOU'D JUST BE TALKING
RIGHT INTO THE PHONE. - AND, LIKE, IF SOMEBODY
WALKED IN, THEY WOULD BE, LIKE, "WHY ARE
YOU TALKING INTO A PHONE?" - RIGHT,
AND THEN THEY'D HAUL YOU AWAY AND PUT YOU IN THE LOONY BIN. - YEAH.
- LOONY BIN? - YEAH, YOU KNOW. TRYING TO HELP THEM LEARN. AND THEN I-- [applause] I INTRODUCED THEM
TO THE TYPEWRITER. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS? both: UM... - FIRST YOU HAVE TO FIND
THE ON BUTTON. - UH...
- THIS? I DON'T SEE... - NO. HMM. HMM. HMM. - ALL RIGHT,
YOU DON'T HAVE TO TURN IT ON. JUST PUT THAT IN.
I'M JUST KIDDING WITH YOU. OKAY. [snores] DO YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE A CALL
ON THAT THING? - MM-MM. - I'LL SHOW YOU. HELLO? HELLO? [both laugh] OKAY,
YOU HAVE THE WRONG NUMBER. THAT'S HOW YOU WOULD DO IT. DO YOU TYPE A LOT? - YEAH. - WHAT DO YOU TYPE? - I WORK ON SCRIPTS. - YOU WRITE SCRIPTS. - YEAH. - WHAT, LIKE A MOVIE SCRIPT?
- YEAH. - WHAT'S THE NAME
OF THE MOVIE SCRIPT THAT YOU'RE WORKING ON? - "THE LOST ISLAND." - "THE LOST ISLAND."
WHAT'S IT ABOUT? - WELL, IT'S ABOUT-- I GOT INSPIRED
BY "INDIANA JONES." IT'S ABOUT THESE
TWO ARCHAEOLOGISTS THAT HAVE TO FIND
THE LOST ISLAND. THE LOST ISLAND
IS WHERE YOU CAN GET THE POWER OF MOTHER NATURE
ITSELF. - PEN. ARCHAEOLOGISTS ARE--
THEY'RE-- - TRYING TO FIND
THE LOST ISLAND. - I NEED THAT TYPEWRITER
REAL QUICK. - AND IF YOU FIND THE TEMPLE
OF THE LOST ISLAND-- - [gasps] - THEY'RE TRYING TO FIND WHAT? - THEY TRY TO FIND THE TEMPLE OF THE LOST ISLAND. - SLOW DOWN. SLOW DOWN. TEMPLE OF THE LOST... - ISLAND. AND WHEN THEY--
AND THEY WILL GET THE POWER OF MOTHER NATURE IF THEY-- - THEY'LL GET THE WHAT? - THE POWER OF MOTHER NATURE IF THEY FIND THE TEMPLE, BUT THE JEWISH ARE PLANNING
TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD. THE JEWISH ARE PLANNING
TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD IF THEY FIND IT. - THE JEWISH ARE PLANNING
ON TAKING OVER THE WORLD? - YEAH.
IF THEY FIND THE... - I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT. [cheers and applause] AH. OBVIOUSLY, HE GOT CONFUSED. IT WAS A REFERENCE
TO "INDIANA JONES." AND HE ASSURED ME ONE OF
HIS BEST FRIENDS IS JEWISH. [laughter] FINALLY, MOST PEOPLE
USE VOICE MAIL NOW, BUT HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I BROUGHT IN
AN OLD ANSWERING MACHINE. TELL ME WHAT THIS IS. - IT'S LIKE A RADIO,
BUT IT HAS A SPEAKER SO YOU CAN TALK THROUGH. - IT WAS A RECORDING MACHINE, SO IF SOMEONE CALLED
AND YOU WEREN'T HOME, THEY WOULD LEAVE A MESSAGE. LIKE, HERE.
YOU'RE CALLING ME. AND THEN I'LL LEAVE THE MESSAGE. HI, IT'S ELLEN. I'M NOT HERE RIGHT NOW. LEAVE A MESSAGE,
AND I'LL CALL YOU BACK. - OKAY.
- BEEP. OH, IT DIDN'T--
I DIDN'T GIVE YOU ENOUGH TIME. OKAY, LET ME TRY IT AGAIN. HEY, IT'S ELLEN. I'M NOT HOME,
BUT IF YOU LEAVE A MESSAGE, I'LL CALL YOU BACK. - HI. CALL ME BACK
WHEN YOU GET A CHANCE. - BEEP. [laughs] I DIDN'T LEAVE ENOUGH TIME.
OKAY. HEY, IT'S ELLEN. I'M NOT HOME. LEAVE A MESSAGE,
AND I'LL CALL YOU BACK. - UM... - BEEP. HI, IT'S ELLEN.
I'M NOT HOME. LEAVE A MESSAGE,
AND I'LL CALL YOU BACK. - HI. CALL ME BACK WHEN YOU CAN. - BEEP. YOU DIDN'T SAY YOUR NAME. TRY IT AGAIN. HEY, IT'S ELLEN.
I'M NOT HOME. LEAVE A MESSAGE,
AND I'LL CALL YOU BACK. - HI, IT'S REBECCA.
CALL ME BACK. - BEEP. - [laughs] - THIS IS ELLEN. LEAVE A MESSAGE,
AND I'LL CALL YOU BACK. - HI, IT'S REBECCA,
AND CALL ME BACK. - BEEP. YOU HAD A LOT MORE TIME. - [sighs] - YOU HAD SO MUCH MORE TIME. ALL RIGHT, LET'S TRY-- WE'LL LET WILLIAM TRY IT. HI, THIS IS ELLEN. LEAVE A MESSAGE,
AND I'LL CALL YOU BACK. - HI, THIS IS WILLIAM-- - BEEP. - AND I-- - BEEP. - OH, REALLY? - HI, THIS IS ELLEN. LEAVE A MESSAGE,
AND I'LL CALL YOU BACK. - UM...
- BEEP. - REALLY? - HI, THIS IS ELLEN.
I'M NOT HOME. LEAVE A MESSAGE,
AND I'LL CALL YOU BACK. - HI, THIS IS WILLIAM,
AND I'LL CALL YOU BACK. - IF YOU'RE GONNA CALL ME BACK,
WHY'D YOU LEAVE A MESSAGE? - [laughs] - OH. [all laugh] - THIS MACHINE
IS SO COMPLICATED. - I KNOW.
IT'S JUST SO COMPLICATED. THAT'S WHY THEY GOT RID OF IT. WE HAVE TO WRAP IT UP,
BECAUSE I HAVE TO GET GOING. YOU HAVE A MICROPHONE. GO AHEAD AND SAY
WHATEVER YOU WANT TO SAY OR SING
WHATEVER YOU WANT TO SING. - UM... - BEEP.
OH. - [groans] - WHAT? OKAY, THIS THING DOESN'T WORK. - WHAT DO VOLCANOES
EAT FOR DINNER? - IS IT "ASHED POTATOES?" - NOPE.
PAINT DROPS. - [chuckles] - BEEP. - AWKWARD. - [laughs]
OKAY, YOU TWO KIDS. IT'S BEEN LOVELY
TALKING TO YOU. I'LL WALK YOU OUT. - OKAY. BYE, EVERYONE. NICE SEEING YOU. - BYE. - AH. I LOVE THOSE KIDS. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
I remember, before finebros did an elders react series, I was subscribed to this awesome YouTube channel that did seniors react content. Finebros already did the kids react stuff. One day I visited the channel and found it was closed down due to copyright claim from finebros. 2 weeks later they started their elders react series. I unsubscribed that same day and haven't watched their stuff since
edit:the channel was called "stillcosmo" I think
This bit Ellen did looks nothing like a finebros reaction, and yet they were mad towards Ellen for doing this? WTF?
I wasn't too bothered when they were talking about licensing out their shows by way of providing graphics, resources, etc. It was when they explicitly called for people to stop supporting other channels that are "ripping their format off off" that alarm bells really started firing off. Then the trademarking bullshit came to light, added to the other shady stuff like their reaction to Ellen's tenuously similar one-off segment was when the full picture of shittiness really started to take shape.
IMPORTANT EDIT 4 Jan 30, 11:17 EST: The Fine Bros are preparing a PR statement/video where they will attempt to play the victim card. They will deflect the REAL criticisms of their trademark agenda and instead focus on being victims of personal attacks. They are masters of PR talk, they tried to spin "React World" as some kind of a favor they are doing for us. Now they are going to spin this backlash against them as bigoted attacks against them. They will LABEL their criticism as attacks from bigots rather than address 99.9% of the criticisms that are aimed at their action. I repeat, their PR strategy is the following: Trademarking = misunderstanding, criticisms = racism, The Fine Bros = victims. They're spending their weekend carefully crafting their new PR campaign, just wait for their upcoming announcement video, twitter, and facebook.
IMPORTANT EDIT 3: Youtube itself is actually supporting what The Fine Bros are doing. This is What their VP of content partnership said before this scandal blew up:
YouTube’s VP of content partnerships Kelly Merryman released a statement vouching for Fine Bros Entertainment.
“The Fine Brothers have been innovators on YouTube since day one, so it’s no surprise that they’ve created a unique way to expand the hugely popular ‘React’ series to YouTube audiences around the globe. This is brand-building in the YouTube age — rising media companies building their brands through collaborations with creators around the world.”
IMPORTANT EDIT 2: Here is the letter they send you to threaten you if you make reaction videos that they think is too similar to their "format". Ellen would have gotten one of these too if she wasn't so big: http://i.imgur.com/QB4L8cI.png
IMPORTANT EDIT: A user found the actual archived video of Seniors React (created before Fine Bros made Elders React):
http://web.archive.org/web/20120406235634/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99bwWcZ2Eg8&gl=US&hl=en#
Click here to watch: https://vid.me/e/gHXQ
The creators of this series were threatened and pushed out of making videos by The Fine Bros. This is the kind of legal abuse and harassment that The Fine Bros are trying so hard to convince us they are not doing and won't do.
Here they are telling their fans to go after Ellen. This forced Ellen to shut down the comment section and make a response tweet (also in the picture): http://imgur.com/idasVMZ and https://twitter.com/thefinebros/status/513061415016341504
They actually deleted this facebook post because their own fans were criticizing them for it, but The Fine Bros should know that what gets posted to the internet stays on the internet.
The Fine Bros are LYING when they tell us they won’t try to shut down other channels
They are trademarking "react". Trademark law REQUIRES them to aggressively go after those who violate their trademark or else they LOSE it. They have already successfully shut down other channels making kids react and seniors react videos by using their lawyers. When they go up against a show as big as Ellen that can legally defend itself, The Fine Bros know they can’t legally threaten Ellen so they use their fans to attack her. This is a pattern of behavior that directly contradicts their claim in their AMA:
They are flat out lying.
They use intentionally ambiguous language to confuse you.
The Fine Bros are trying to make it sound like they are protecting their very narrow niche brand.
They are LYING.
Ask yourselves what possible format The Fine Bros can claim that justifies them attacking and brigading Ellen for her show? The Fine Bros are out of control with their entitlement. Even when they don’t have the power, they are still launching attacks against a huge show like Ellen. What do you think they will do when they finish trademarking “react” and can use their leverage with Youtube to take down any react video they want without even filing lawsuits?
Still believe them when they use ambiguous language to imply they won’t come after you?
The Fine Bros are in damage-control mode. This is their strategy:
They will tell you they don’t and can’t copyright reaction videos. This is a trick. They are not copyrighting but actually TRADEMARKING reaction videos. They have already trademarked Kids React, Teens React, Elders React, and they are almost finished trademarking REACT ITSELF! What does this mean? This means you can’t use those words in the title of your video if your video involves kids, teens, etc. And once they finish trademarking “React” itself, they can come after you for any react videos at all. Before anyone try to defend them by saying they are only attacking videos that are “too similar” to theirs, ask yourselves: How similar was the Ellen video to their Kids React “format”? If even Ellen’s video is considered a copyright infringement, then what kind of a react video involving kids can possibly NOT infringe their “format”.
They will use intentionally ambiguous and confusing words to distract you. They will say they are only trademarking their “format” or their “structure” without actually telling you specifically what they are. Again, ask yourselves, what exactly is their “format”? And why did they feel Ellen’s show stole their format?
When describing the format/structure of their show, they will use small details to distract you from the bigger problem. The bigger problem is they are trademarking the format of having multiple people watching a video and talking about it. That’s it. That’s the amazing format that they think belongs to them. If they actually give us this answer, they know they would piss us off. So they will use details to distract you. They will say that their format is their “intro music” or their “fact cards” or their “timing”. BULLSHIT. Ask yourself if Ellen’s show used any of those minor details from Kids React. No. Ellen literally just talked to kids and had them react to some old technologies. None of the distracting details from Fine Bros were in Ellen’s show. This tells us that The Fine Bros considers kids reaction as a whole to be their format and their intellectual property. THAT’S their dirty little truth.
They will avoid describing the core structure of their react videos at all cost. Their core structure is so unoriginal and so unbelievably simple that they will never just outright say it because they know that even the majority of kids that make up their fanbase will call them out. Their core structure is having people watch videos and then answer questions. That’s it. In their upcoming PR blitz, try to get them to admit this. Watch them talk in circles to avoid admitting this.
Summary
If they say they aren’t copyrighting “react”, ask them if they are TRADEMARKING “react”.
When they use ambiguous words like “structure” or “format” force them to define them
When they use small details to distract you from the definition of their “structure” or “format”, tell them that Ellen’s show had NONE of their details, ask them why they felt like Ellen stole their format.
When they keep using PR talk to confuse you, ask them if you are allowed to make a video right now called “kids react to Spongebob” with kids watching a video of Spongebob. They will tell you that no, you are not allowed because you are infringing on their intellectual property. They already trademarked “Kids React”. Then ask them, what will they claim as “their” intellectual property once they finish trademarking “react” itself.
Why is this important
Because if they succeed in trademarking something as simple as a group of people watching a video and answering questions, then EVERYTHING becomes fair game. Think about it, unboxing videos can be boiled down to a similarly simple “format/structure”, it’s just someone opening up a product’s packaging and giving information about it. In fact, this structure may be more complex than the react structure. Or how about video game reviews? The structure is just someone critiquing a game while footage of the game plays in the background. How is this more or less complex than a group of people watching a video and answering questions about it? The list goes on, if the Fine Bros succeed, we are going to see a torrent of these frivolous trademarks getting filed. Youtube won’t be a content site anymore, it will become a legal battleground.
Ellen did a far better/funnier job interviewing these kids than any fine bros video!
Whats next? Watchmojo trademarking top 10 lists?
pewdiepie trademarking horror LPS?
Northernlion claiming all isaac content?
This is just stupid.
This isn't new for them. They have always been extremely aggressive in taking down smaller channels on YouTube with even remotely similar concepts. Their DMCA claims destroyed any momentum any of their competitors could have possibly built up. Then they do a good job burying any information about them ever having done it and deny doing so. The difference here is that Ellen is too big for them to bully and lay false DMCA claims against, so they had to try and use their audience to do their dirty work for them. They seem to think they are original when all of their success has come on the backs of others.
Hopefully this thread gets as much attention as even the original finebros backlash thread. This Ellen example takes all the guesswork out of how scummy the finebros might be with this trademark stuff.
So, I went to sign up for "React World" to see what it was like, and holy shit. It's basically like making a deal with the devil, your YouTube account is no longer yours. I pity anyone foolish enough to sign up for this scam.