Actual Muppet Puppets

[practicecactus]

No it's just like copying DVD's and stuff. .

Hey ,i agree with what you guys are talking about,
Fact is ;the Muppet people don't/will never make replica muppets.
And if they did , they'd be Bull$#!t expensive , But if One of these talented puppet builders can make a replica (it's foam and stuff ,it's not rocket science) ,at a reasonable price, then I'd buy it. Of course, with the understanding your not authorised to make shows and stuff with it.
I'm not a puppeteer ,just a puppetry admirer, but even if was I could never do show and except money for it. I have too much respect for the real guys (characters & puppeteers)

 

[Vic Romano]

Here's what I know about music copyright, because I have music copyrighted. You cannot copyright notes, you cannot copyright chords, you cannot copyright beats, rhythms or riffs, you CAN copyright melodies. By law, any song whether parodied or not, if the melody is the exact same (must be exact, a note can be different here or there and in court you can make an argument over that) as a copyrighted melody, you are in fact infringing on copyright law. You're right that Weird Al is also being courteous, but by law he HAS to seek permission. Plus, he also likes to get courteous permission just to copy the music video of the artist as well. I don't know what the rules are on copyrighting videos, but for example, when he got permission from MJ to parody "Bad" with "Fat", MJ also provided him with the actual set used in "Bad"! Jackson's beliefs were, if his somg were going to be parodied, he wanted it done right. One or two of the original dancers from the "Bad" video were actually re-casted for the "Fat" video, dressed in prostetics and fat suits of course.

 

[Vic Romano]

The law is a little up for interpretation and difficult to understand as far as copying CDs and DVDs. By law, you have the right to make a copy or copies of any CD or DVD that you legitimatly own for archival purposes. In other words, If I went to Suncoast video and bought the Muppet Movie on DVD, I am allowed by law to protect my investment by copying the DVD onto a blank DVD-R or ripping the video onto my hard drive, so that in the instance of damage to the original Muppet Movie DVD that I purchased, I have a copy, I've "insured" my purchase. There are people in the industry who don't think this is right and are arguing with the law that such programs that allow you to do this (their main fight is with a software called DVD X or X copy or something like that), is wrong and therefore should be illegal. So if you're ever taken to court for such a case, it really depends on the judge as to whether or not it's legal. Truth of the matter is, copyright in general is kind of loosely interpreted, and with the right (or wrong) lawyer, anything can be considered up for grabs as to whether or not you've actually ripped someone off.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Yeah, it's under assault over but especially in the U.S. where the MPAA and RIAA are so powerful. I wouldn't be surprised if they take away the "back up copy" clause, most countries don't have that.

Copyright isn't really alll that loosely interpreted though, sadly in most cases the judgements are very conservative and tend to favour copyright holders except in cases (like JibJab's) where the disputed use is clearly fair.

Anyone who is interested in these issues should read Lawerence Lessig's blog. He's a professor in the United States who is an advocate for copyright reform (the good kind) and what he calls "free culture."

 

[Vic Romano]

Buck, do you know if copyright issues on anything are handled in state court, or do they go directly to Supreme court? Considering that almost all media is now basically internationally accesible.

 

[Vic Romano]

I ask such a thing pertaining to US law only now realizing you're from Canada, sorry.

 

[beforemyway]

wow, how is a puppet designer supose to keep track of all the puppets already created out there?? what if they design something, and it happens to resemble something from the Muppets, but the person didn't mean it to?

 

[Iokitek]

tough break?