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Should We Sue Viacom?

2010-06-09 · Hank · watch on YouTube · Internet & YouTube · news analysis

Hank reports that Viacom's Spike.com posted and monetized John's video about Viacom monetizing others' videos, calls this illegal practice something that should stop across Spike.com, and asks intellectual-property lawyers whether the brothers can sue.

What is said

00:00:00 — Welcome to newcomers; 'who the F is Hank?'; pointer to John's video

  • ★ Answering newcomers asking 'who the F is Hank?', Hank says Hank is an unincorporated community in Texas, an inside joke the brothers can't let go of. (joke) — 00:00:00 · Who the Eff Is Hank
  • ★★ Hank says yesterday was a big deal for the brothers, and possibly for Viacom, and points newcomers to John's video. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank's description says John had said in his last video he would sue Viacom if that video went up and was monetized on Spike.com, and it was. — 00:00:00 · John Green

00:00:29 — Recap: Viacom's suit, manual approval impossible at 24 hours a minute, Spike.com's claimed manual approval vs independent creators' videos

  • ★★★ Recapping, Hank says Viacom is suing YouTube for profiting from Viacom-owned content and wants YouTube to manually approve every uploaded video. — 00:00:29 · YouTube
  • ★★★ Manual approval is a problem, Hank says, because about 24 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. — 00:00:29 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank thinks even Google's masterminds would struggle to keep YouTube solvent under manual approval. (playful) (hedged) — 00:00:29 · Google, YouTube
  • ★★★ Viacom says Spike.com is manually approved, yet most of its viral-category videos belong to independent creators who never let Viacom run them with 30-second pre-rolls and ads. — 00:00:58

00:01:27 — Spike.com monetizes John's video; should we sue?; Spike.com is a bad website; taken down after 300 views, 60 cents; lawyers please email

  • ★★★ Spike.com has posted and monetized John's video about Viacom, so Viacom is monetizing a video about how it monetizes videos it does not own. — 00:01:27 · John Green
  • ★★ Hank asks intellectual property attorneys whether the brothers could sue Viacom, 'because it feels like we should'. — 00:01:27
  • ★★ After browsing Spike.com, Hank calls it a really bad website that appeals to his 14-year-old self: boobies, violence, butts and Mountain Dew. (playful) — 00:01:56
  • ★★★ John called: Viacom took his video down after 300 views, but had still made 60 cents from a video it didn't own. — 00:01:56 · John Green
  • ★★★ Hank says this is illegal and should stop, not just for their video but for all the copyrighted videos Viacom puts on Spike.com; he'd happily sue for 60 cents. — 00:01:56 · copyright
  • ★★★ Lawyers who think they can do this and can give maybe 10 hours should email hankandjohn@gmail.com; Hank repeats the ask at the end. — 00:01:56

00:02:32 — Thanks to Reddit; YouTube's email alerts for new Vlogbrothers videos

  • ★★ Hank thanks those who featured John's video, especially the Reddit community, rare on the internet for being thoughtful, respectful and intelligent. — 00:02:32 · Reddit
  • ★★ Hank tells subscribers they can now have YouTube email them whenever a Vlogbrothers video goes up, but asks first viewers not to comment 'first'. — 00:02:32 · YouTube, Vlogbrothers

Humor (significant)

  • Newcomers from John's viral video are asking 'who the F is Hank?' — 00:00:00 > «Well, Hank is an unincorporated community in central Donnelly, Texas.»
  • Browsing Spike.com, Hank reverts to his 14-year-old self: boobies, violence, butts and Mountain Dew. — 00:01:56 > «Apparently some people got stuck at 14 and those people they love spike.com»
  • Hank closes with lines from Jonathan Coulton songs addressed to Viacom. — 00:03:01 > «all we want to do is eat your brains. We're not unreasonable. I mean, no one's going to eat your eyes.»

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