BRATZ HEAVEN ANIMATED VIDEOS COPYRIGHT INFORMATION By: Robyn Barnette Bratz Heaven Website and Yahoo! Group Administrator Website: http://www.bratzheaven.com/ Group: http://group.bratzheaven.com/ E-Mail: robyn@bratzheaven.com NOTE: Bratz Heaven is not associated with MGA Entertainment, Inc., Mike Young Productions, Lions Gate Entertainment, or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates. It should be made known right now that MGA Entertainment, Inc. is fully aware of the Bratz Heaven website. And one of the company's major concerns is the posting of videos of their popular animated television series "Bratz." As you are no doubt aware, MGA Entertainment takes its responsibility for the protection of Bratz and the rights it has granted to its authorized licensees very seriously. The company has one of the most powerful and stellar legal teams in the industry, and this legal team will aggressively pursue any and all individuals or entities profiting off the Bratz name without the express written consent of MGA Entertainment, Inc. I have tremendous respect for MGA Entertainment, Inc. and its president and CEO Isaac Larian. And I would never, under any circumstances, use Bratz as a means for monetary gain or anything where I am selling out the Bratz name just so I can make a quick buck. Bratz has more personal value to me than any amount of money they're worth. For me to one day turn around and profit off Bratz would be extremely unethical and selfish. However, upon the construction of the Bratz Heaven website, I was deeply worried about the posting of videos from the "Bratz" animated television series. Since the animated television series is owned exclusively by MGA Entertainment, Inc., the concern was that officials from MGA Entertainment, Inc., Mike Young Productions, and Lions Gate Entertainment would investigate the website thoroughly, concluding that the use of the animated videos on Bratz Heaven is illegal and constitutes copyright infringement. To ensure myself that there was no evidence the posting of videos from the "Bratz" animated television series infringed upon any copyrights of the Bratz name or any Bratz property trademarks, I hired my own attorney to thoroughly browse through the Bratz Heaven website. We both browsed through the website with a fine-toothed comb. We checked all the graphics, photos, articles, television commercials, fan fictions, and animated videos. After thorough research, both my attorney and myself concluded that the use of the animated videos on the Bratz Heaven website does NOT infringe copyright. The basis for this conclusion has to do with Copyright Law itself: According to the Copyright Act of 1976 and under United States Copyright Law, any individual or entity can use limited or allowable portions of copyrighted materials in criticism, review, commentary, teaching, or parody. This is FAIR USE, and United States Code Title 17, Section 107 of Copyright Law states the following: SOURCE: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107 *************************************************************************** * * * Section 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: FAIR USE * * * * Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, THE FAIR * * USE OF A COPYRIGHTED WORK, including such use by reproduction in * * copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that * * section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, * * teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), * * scholarship, or research, IS NOT AN INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT. In * * determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case * * is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include - * * (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether * * such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit * * educational purposes; * * (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; * * (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in * * relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and * * (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or * * value of the copyrighted work. * * The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding * * of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the * * above factors. * * * *************************************************************************** It should also be noted that according to the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (better known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998), the policies that apply to the fair use of copyrighted materials are not affected. United States Code Title 17, Section 1201c states that the DMCA does NOT alter the Fair Use Provision of the Copyright Act: SOURCE: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap12.html#1201 *************************************************************************** * * * Section 1201. Circumvention of copyright protection systems * * (c) Other Rights, Etc., Not Affected.— * * (1) NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL AFFECT rights, remedies, * * limitations, or defenses to COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT, * * INCLUDING FAIR USE, UNDER THIS TITLE. * * (2) Nothing in this section shall enlarge or diminish vicarious * * or contributory liability for copyright infringement in * * connection with any technology, product, service, device, * * component, or part thereof. * * (3) Nothing in this section shall require that the design of, or * * design and selection of parts and components for, a consumer * * electronics, telecommunications, or computing product provide * * for a response to any particular technological measure, so * * long as such part or component, or the product in which such * * part or component is integrated, does not otherwise fall * * within the prohibitions of subsection (a)(2) or (b)(1). * * (4) Nothing in this section shall enlarge or diminish any rights * * of free speech or the press for activities using consumer * * electronics, telecommunications, or computing products. * * * *************************************************************************** Each animated video from the "Bratz" animated television series posted on the Bratz Heaven website is used to demonstrate the Bratz dolls coming to life through animation and the appearances of the dolls through such a creative and innovative medium. Each animated video is also accompanied by a brief description of the video, summarizing particular scenes and/or including my own opinions about the video itself. Finally, each animated video is from each corresponding individual episode of the "Bratz" animated television series and unless otherwise noted, is approximately three minutes in length (a typical episode of "Bratz" runs somewhere around 22 to 25 minutes, and this is without commercial interruption). Copyright Law and Fair Use do not indicate an explicit, predefined, or legal specification of the amount of the copyrighted work that should be used. Regardless, there are absolutely no plans to include any full-length episodes of the "Bratz" animated television series anywhere on the Bratz Heaven website. Furthermore, THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO PLANS TO CHARGE ANY FEES WHATSOEVER TO ANYONE VIEWING ANY OF THE ANIMATED VIDEOS OR ANYTHING ON BRATZ HEAVEN IN GENERAL. My attorney informed me that even though fair use permits limited or allowable portions of copyrighted materials, it does NOT require prior permission from the copyright holder. Such permission would be impossible to obtain from either MGA Entertainment, Inc., Mike Young Productions, or Lions Gate Entertainment. However, even though I am unable to obtain permission from either company to post these animated videos on the Bratz Heaven website, my attorney added that I am acting within my fair use rights and that a company such as MGA Entertainment, Inc., if anything, is more concerned about "preventing Bratz from falling into the wrong hands." I was also advised that, under legal precedent, if a company such as MGA Entertainment, Inc. uses a lawsuit (or the threat of one) to coerce me to remove the animated videos or other copyrighted materials from Bratz Heaven, when they are being used fairly, there are grounds for a harassment suit against the company. Therefore, even though MGA Entertainment, Inc., Mike Young Productions, and Lions Gate Entertainment do not approve the usage of the animated videos from the "Bratz" animated television series on the Bratz Heaven website, the usage of these animated videos on Bratz Heaven -- in compliance with United States Code Title 17, Section 107 of United States Copyright Law and United States Code Title 17, Section 1201c of the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act -- is, in fact, LEGAL.