CBS, who has finally stopped trying to charge for on-line streaming of the NCAA March Madness Tournament, has now turned their attention to Blogs and short YouTube clips. That’s right, CBS who paid the NCAA $571 million for the rights to this years tournament, have decided that a 27 second clip posted on The Hoop Doctors violated their copyright, and had YouTube shutdown The Hoop Doctors account. Never mind the fact that The Hoop Doctors posted commentary on the video, invited discussion on the video, and were well within their rights covered under fair use. I think the scene at CBS must have played out something like this:

Smithers : Mr. Burns, it seems that people on the Internet like our product, and are uploading it to a place called “YouTube” where they watch it, and then discuss it.

Burns : Oh really? What is this “Internet” that you speak of? Sounds like a fad, why don’t these people just wait till tomorrow to read about it in the newspaper?

Homer : They have the Internet on computers now!

Smithers : Sir, the Internet is really popular with the kids these days. We should probably see if we can make money from it.

Burns : Excellent Smithers, take everything that we currently offer on television for free, and put it on this “Internet” and charge people money for it!

Smithers : But sir, nobody will pay for it, however we could sell ads and promote our new shows utilizing the Internet.

Burns : Ah yes, the Internet, we must let the folks there know that we are “America’s Most Watched Network”

Smithers : This basketball site, “The Hoop Doctors“, they seem to be utilizing our video, and make no mention of us being “America’s Most Watched Network.” What should I do?

Burns : Have them shutdown immediately, nobody messes with “America’s Most Watched Network” and gets away with it. How much video did they use?

Smithers : 27 seconds sir, at a cost to us of $27,000.

Burns : 27 seconds! How many people saw it?!?!

Smithers : Thousands of people sir, I believe the kids like to say it had a virus.

Burns : They must have a huge budget then, but we can out spend them! Get the folks from CSI over there to investigate, and get a team of lawyers working on it immediately, I want them to pay for this. Contact Congress and see if we can get some additional funding.

Smithers : But sir, there are hundreds of sites like this, and hundreds of accounts on YouTube doing the same thing.

Burns : WHAT?!? Then destroy YouTube and destroy the Internet! And don’t forget to watch the The Mentalist on Tuesdays at 9 ET.

CBS is “America’s Most Watched Network” and is a trademark of CBS Broadcasting, Inc. The Mentalist, “Television’s Most Watched New Drama” is a trademark and copyright of Warner Brothers Entertainment, Inc., distributed in the United States by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). Photo used without express written consent or any other form of permission. YouTube is an independent subsidiary of Google, and they do no evil. The NCAA owns all rights to the words NCAA Tournament and is a draconian organization, which will under no circumstances pass any revenue onto the student athletes. March Madness is a trademark of the March Madness Athletic Association, LLC, a joint holding company which perpetually licenses use of the phrase in connection with the collegiate tournament. Twentieth Century Fox owns the characters Burns and Smithers, along with the image posted above. The Hoop Doctors will soon be the property of CBS Broadcasting, Inc. or be bought out by Microsoft. No parties have been consulted or approve of this message. If you’re going to commit copyright infringement, do so in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu which is a lawless wasteland. For all Copyright and Trademark claims, please contact your momma, cuz we don’t want to hear it.