A recent wave of takedowns notices affecting many of the Hitler “Downfall” parody videos has resulted in their removal from YouTube. (EDIT: These videos were blocked by YouTube’s Content ID system, not taken down via DMCA notices. For more on the difference between these two, see the EFF’s Guide to YouTube Removals.) The copyright claim is being filed on behalf of Constantin Films, the German production company that owns the rights to the 2004 film Der Untergang (Downfall), from which the clip originates.
Downfall parodies are a well-established part of online culture and follow a familiar format: phony subtitles are presented along with Hitler’s final soliloquy in his besieged bunker (you might need to watch for yourself). The Downfall format has been used to mock everything from social networking sites, to politicians, to the iPad, to self-important hipsters. The list goes on, but as of this week Downfall videos are disappearing fast. Both “Hitler Gets Banned from XBox Live,”—which had over 4 million views before it was taken down—and the meta-parody “Hitler Wants to Make a Meme,” are currently unavailable due to Constantin’s copyright claim.
The Downfall meme is so well-established that it has literally become standard curriculum for digital moviemaking courses, as evidenced by this class’ page which counted 14 videos before the takedowns were issued (currently, only two of these videos remain playable).
For more on the genesis of the Downfall meme, see YouTOMB researcher Alex Leavitt’s study.
There are hundreds of Hitler Downfall videos, and it is unclear what will become of them. The burden of filing a counternotice dispute or a claim of fair use to restore the video falls on individual users, so it will be difficult to reverse this action. We’ll be following this story as it develops.
[...] a comment » Isn’t the Downfall meme transparently fair use? If this isn’t fair use, what would [...]
As a marketing move, what a blunder. This meme was absolutely the only incentive for me to watch the original film. The takedowns just make Constantin look petty and humorless.
Exactly. The parodies were the ONLY reason I PAID to rent the movie.
Fail.
Sad that your only incentive for seeing that terrific film is a lame, overdone internet fad that was only creative the very first time it was done.
Sad, maybe, but true for many people. Your should/would answer is pointless. It’s sad that people go to McD’s more for the Big Macs than for the chicken sandwiches, yet they do. It’s sad that people drive big honkin’ SUVs in response to TV ads showing how macho they are, yet those ads work. What’s really sad is that we are discussing this ultimately trivial topic as if our comments will make the slighest bit of difference to anyone about anything.
You’ve changed my life.
and mine
What’s sad is that you’re angry that someone rented a GOOD movie because they were enlightened of it’s existence from a joke you don’t like?
The pretentiousness of some people know no fucking bounds.
Luckily, there are still Hitler Meme parodies on other video sites, like this great one: “Hitler is a Meme”
http://www.break.com/usercontent/2008/5/Adolf-Hitler-Is-A-Meme-504160.html
Best part is, the commenters have no idea what’s going on, LOL.
That’s how I learned about the movie, which I subsequently rented.
Morons.
Without the meme, I would never have purchased the movie (which I did).
I was fascinated by the actor’s cheek-trembling and longed to know what the scene was really about.
I may miss this meme, but expect Constantin will miss revenue more.
Someone already noticed that today is Hitler’s Birthday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKOwI55ypLQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler
[...] seem easy, but April 2010 might mark the first time someone succeeds in killing a meme. According to the Open Video Alliance, a recent surge of copyright claims has taken offline a majority of the Hitler parodies on YouTube [...]
Here’s a great new one, posted today: Hitler finds out on his birthday what 4/20 really means http://moronia.us/front/?p=2014
Is it really a coincidence that they did this on Hitler’s birthday?
strange that this coincides with the recent iPad downfall vid. Methinks Apple is in the mix.
Naturally I had to pick *the day* that I just made my very first ever Hitler Parody video to post it:
“Hitler Finds Out That Marijuana is Bigger Than His Birthday on 4/20″
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4495647/hitler_finds_out_that_marijuana_is_bigger_than_his_own_birthday/
Please watch the Special Message to California Voters at the end and pass it along to all your friends.
Ironically enough I threw the same sort of tantrum Adolf did when I found out that there was *no way* it was going to be on YouTube on 4/20.
Hitler must be so pleased that this is happening today.
YouTube allows one to dispute it, which I did on grounds of Fair Use and that it’s newsworthy in that it directly addresses an issue that will be voted on in November in California. The SCOTUS Citizen’s United Decision should cut both ways.
Also, the Production Company in question, Constantin Films, is local to me, so I’m going to go over there personally on Thursday, since I’m meeting another client right down the street, with a copy of it on my phone/laptop and request written permission to post it.
I am so fed up with this sort of thing. There is a ride on the Oktoberfest Grounds right now that I filmed at last year, with permission, and I was told this week that they’ve got a sign in their cashiers office telling customers that they can’t film. Which in a public area like they’re at has zero legal standing. And what are they going to do, go after people who film it from nearby local rooftops?
I don’t get the mentality. More people have seen ‘Downfall’ as a result of the parodies than ever saw it in the theaters, and why wouldn’t an investor in a €100+ K Amusement Park and/or owner ride want free advertising showing how fun their ride is?
Something is really wrong with these people.
Thanks!
Nyc
[...] meer van de populaire video’s verdwijnen van het net. Makers van de parodieën kunnen wel een tegenclaim doen, met beroep op ‘fair use’, maar het hangt hier dus af van de individuele gebruiker of [...]
[...] Downfall Meme gets DMCA’d This entry was posted in news. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL. « Technology and Location [...]
[...] It seems like Constantin Films has had enough, and has issued a mass DMCA Takedown of the popular Hitler Meme Downfall parodies. [...]
Congratulations, despite the obvious temptation, we have passed the Godwin’s Law Challenge. =)
[...] Visit Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down [...]
I just removed the original from my NetFlix queue. Take that, Constantin.
Final Parody: Hitler discovers that all the Hitler parodies have been taken down due to copyright claim!
Fair creative use I would have thought?
Indeed, I did a parody about Constantin doing too many takedowns a year ago.
Of course, they took it down today. But it’s back up.
http://ideas.4brad.com/studio-does-content-id-takedown-my-hitler-video-about-takedowns
[...] the “Downfall” movie, from which all Hitler Downfall parodies are derived, had youtube remove the videos. I don’t understand how this furthers the economic interest of said production [...]
[...] and iPad News, by CCK Looking to game Google’s copyright enforcement bot? That’s the system that was used to hunt down rogue Hitler videos that remixed the bunker scene from Downfall, and it’s pretty thick: Mark Smitelli has poked [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down [...]
[...] Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down [Open Video Alliance] Tagged:comedyhistoryhitlerxbox liveyoutube [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down [...]
[...] I was looking forward to learning how to write Hitler “Downfall” parodies myself. Parody is a fair use of the material, but if Constantin Films challenges a parody maker, they’re on their own to file a [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down (tags: copyright youtube internet-meme Hitler Movies) [...]
Nice job.
I was going to rent the original before this happened. Not anymore.
[...] US copyright law (how could this not be parody or satire?) but we'll have to see what happens. (An Open Video Alliance post notes that the"videos were blocked by YouTube’s Content ID system, not taken down via DMCA [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down [...]
[...] they killed the humor I am greatly saddened to hear that those buzzkillers over at YouTube have removed all the videos where people used the bunker scene of Hitler flipping in the movie Downfall to make [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down [...]
[...] the Open Video Alliance suggests that “The burden of filing a dispute or a claim of fair use to restore the video falls on [...]
[...] The DCMA downfall of the Hitler Downfall meme? [Open Video Alliance; [...]
[...] both of those videos now cannot be watched, along with the majority of the famous Downfall parodies on YouTube, with a, “This video [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance: The Downfall meme is so well-established that it has literally become standard curriculum for digital moviemaking courses, as evidenced by this class’ page which counted 14 videos before the takedowns were issued (currently, only two of these videos remain playable). [...]
[...] the Open Video Alliance is reporting that the studio that owns the copyright to the film, Constantin Films, has sent a DMCA [...]
[...] The DMCA downfall of the Hitler Downfall meme? [Open Video Alliance; [...]
At Urlesque we didn’t take this news lightly — we made our OWN Downfall…about the take-down of Downfall: http://www.urlesque.com/2010/04/20/hitler-downfall-parody-videos-removed-from-youtube/
HA!
[...] Open Video Alliance | potentate “Downfall Meme” gets condemned down [...]
[...] publicity, and is reportedly demanding the removal of the ridiculous fist-slamming parodies. [From: Open Video Alliance and [...]
[...] Read [...]
[...] Read [...]
[...] the original post: "Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down" and related posts constantin, hitler-meme, hitler-parodies, meme-on-youtube, overclocking-net, parody-videos, [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance | potentate “Downfall Meme” gets condemned down [...]
[...] the Open Video Alliance suggests that “The burden of filing a dispute or a claim of fair use to restore the video falls on [...]
[...] I've always suspected the appeal of Downfall parodies rests in the charisma of the great Bruno Ganz, whose rant never loses its effect no matter how many sets of subtitles you've read. In any event, the massive popularity of the meme was not enough to stop YouTube's overly cautious response to copyright challenges. Open Video Alliance reports: [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down [...]
[...] to game Google’s copyright enforcement bot? That’s the system that was used to hunt down rogue Hitler videos that remixed the bunker scene from Downfall, and it’s pretty [...]
[...] Youtube pulls the plug on Hitler Downfall Meme. [...]
[...] Quellen: news.com.au Open Video Alliance [...]
[...] Quellen: news.com.au Open Video Alliance [...]
[...] reported earlier by the Open Video Alliance, the German film company Constantin Films AG has mis-used the DMCA provision of Notice & [...]
Why oh why are they doing this?
[...] 3) Hitler [...]
Everyone should download as many of these videos as they can and save them to their computers, using websites like Keepvid. This meme may well die on YouTube, but like a demi-god it shall live on, on our hard drives and maybe on other sites should we decide to move.
[...] Via: Open Video Alliance. [...]
[...] publicity, and is reportedly demanding the removal of the ridiculous fist-slamming parodies. [From: Open Video Alliance and [...]
[...] web has been buzzing about the mass takedown of Hitler Downfall meme videos from YouTube since the story broke earlier this week. Constantin Films, the owners of the original footage, have confirmed that it was their intent to [...]
[...] explicação técnica publicada pela Open Video Alliance fornece-nos igualmente o contexto do [...]
[...] http://openvideoalliance.org/2010/04/hitler-downfall-meme-gets-dmcad/?l=en [...]
[...] Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets DMCA’d [...]
[...] Constatin Films has started pulling down the consistently funny Hitler ‘Downfall’ parody videos. A giant blow to the YouTube meme community as there was hundreds of Hitler ‘Downfall’ [...]
[...] Hitler over Hitler over… (Der Untergang van internet parodie) Spring naar reacties Yep, je had het vast al opgevangen, alle Hitler parodieën die we hier al hebben gepost zijn van Youtube weggehaald. [...]
[...] iPad Updates, iPad Video, iPhone Development, iPhone Technical, iPhone and iPad News, by CCK Copyright claims against various Hitler “Downfall” parody videos have resulted in the re…. The DMCA claimant is Constantin Films, the German production company which owns rights to the 2004 [...]
Apparently YouTube has no concept of FAIR USE. Google, there’s a doctrine in US copyright law, called Fair Use, that protects publishing of already copyrighted work. To quote the US Copyright office’s exact use of the law (which is also considered fair use under the same portion, since I’m going to CITE it):
“The 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law cites examples of activities that courts have regarded as fair use: “’quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author’s observations; use in a parody of some of the content of the work parodied; summary of an address or article, with brief quotations, in a news report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of a small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental and fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located in the scene of an event being reported.’”
Bold inserted to highlight relevant passage.
(US Copyright Office, 2010) <======Look! It's even APA formatted!
sorry, forgot the tags, oh well.
[...] Open Video Alliance | Hitler “Downfall Meme” gets taken down [...]
[...] you’ve been around the internet in the past few weeks you may have heard about the Downfall/Hitler parody meme videos being removed from YouTube due to DMCA claims and blocks setup by the production [...]
[...] the last few days I have been reading stories about how the production company “Constantin Films” are requesting removal of Der Untergang [...]
XMbSEc fpvpjwhcvzqg, [url=http://pasesqabqexr.com/]pasesqabqexr[/url], [link=http://jenmbmlswfkd.com/]jenmbmlswfkd[/link], http://rkzomcmrqsla.com/
[...] that I put together a provocative video paraodying Kit Kat’s initial reaction, based on the Hitler Downfall meme. I pulled it within 24 hours, though, when I witnessed the misunderstanding of a couple people [...]
[...] favorite meme gets castrated, and Hitler is none too happy about it (watch it quickly before it’s [...]
[...] shenanigans with regard to their film. The company is none too pleased with the news and has begun pulling the clips from YouTube with all the enthusiasm of, well, ticked-off [...]