Boing Boing says...
I received a couple of emails from YouTube this afternoon notifying me that a third party (probably attorneys for Comedy Central) had made a DMCA request to take down Colbert Report and Daily Show clips. If you visit YouTube, all Daily Show, Colbert Report and South Park clips now show “This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.”
Well that sounds fair enough; I mean it's just some company looking after its IP, no big deal, no story there really. Until you consider this...
If people want to take the show in various forms, I’d say go. But when you’re a part of something successful and meaningful, the rule book says don’t try to analyze it too much or dissect it. You shouldn’t say: “I really want to know what fans think. I really want to understand how people are digesting our show.” Because that is one of those things that you truly have no control over. The one thing that you have control over is the content of the show. But how people are reacting to it, how it’s being shared, how it’s being discussed, all that other stuff, is absolutely beyond your ability to control.
That's the Daily Show's Executive Producer seeming to give carte blanche for people to do what they wanted. As long as it was marketing the show it was all good. Now, it seems, that they have made their money, they don't want the fanbase "diluting" their brand.
All this asks questions about viral marketing. Since you can't "un-ring a bell" PR departments have to take a long hard look at whether or not they want the community to viral market their product, and if they do, then that has to stand for all time. Otherwise everyone loses, especially the corporates whom the communities will no longer trust. After putting in hours of work and then having the rug yanked out from under them, they will no longer be willing to work as unpaid marketeers and viral marking will fail.
Source: Boing Boing