No Honor Among Thieves, No Curiosity Among Journalists: Perez Hilton Re-Pirates Video, CBS News Repeats Smear

Posted on | August 30, 2011 | 104 Comments

The piracy of my video and the smearing of Michele Bachmann continue, despite my having done two posts — here and here — explaining the true story. Here is a screen-cap from Perez Hilton’s site, showing that he downloaded and re-uploaded the pirated/edited “Who likes white people?” video, imprinting it with his own watermark:

Look closely, and you’ll see that Perez’s re-pirated version had already gotten more than 30,000 views (the screen-cap was done at about 8 p.m. ET today) which is of course in addition to the many thousands who had viewed the first ripoff/smear version at the “On Knees” anti-Christian blog. But wait — it gets better:

Yeah — Michelle Castillo of CBS News (!!) made this smear job the No. 1 selection in “Top 5 Viral Videos of the Week.” You can skip ahead to about the 40-second mark of the video:

Castillo writes:

Everything that comes out of Michele Bachmann’s mouth is gold. A new video has her asking a crowd of people, “Who likes white people?” It doesn’t make any sense, so many explanations are surfacing from “White People Soul Power” being the band that played before, to the fact it was raining and Bachmann is asking about “wet” people.

What about the explanation “surfacing” from the guy who was there with the video camera, huh? But never mind that now. Before I continue excoriating Castillo and CBS News specifically, let me say that I have no earthly idea who originated this bizarre supposition that Bachmann was referring to the name of a band. She actually said, “Who likes wet people?” — a joking reference to the fact that it had been raining all day at the Aug. 5 Christian music festival — and there was no band performing with “White” in its name.

Because here is the weird thing: The lineup for the entire concert is online! Bachmann had been scheduled to be there about 6 p.m. but ran late, and so she didn’t speak until after 8 p.m., following Tim Cooper & Friends on the main stage. I know this because I was at the festival to cover Bachmann’s appearance, but it doesn’t take Woodward and Bernstein investigative reporting skills to discover, on the Spirit Midwest Ministries site, under a tab labeled “news,” that their media contact person is Julie Barnes, whose phone number is 515-577-8035.

So any reporter who had seen that silliness about the “White People Soul Power Band” — c’mon, really? I mean, really? — could have spent less than five minutes online, learned that there was no such band at that festival, and called the festival’s promoters to ask them the blindingly obvious question: “Did Michelle Bachmann actually say that stuff about ‘white people’?”

Evidently, however, Michelle Castillo of CBS News doesn’t know how to do a Google search, or browse a Web site, or pick up a fucking phone — what a brilliant journalistic innovation that would be — and call Bachmann campaign spokeswoman Alice Stewart (whose contact information is not top secret) and ask her what this is all about.

No, not at all. But please notice this curious fact:

Yeah, the time-stamp: “6:44 p.m. Aug. 30,” by which time Chris Moody’s accurate post at Yahoo News — identifying my video as the source from which the pirated/edited smear video was stolen — had been a top item at Memeorandum for more than 24 hours!

But wait, it gets better, because here are my two posts on this topic:

Monday Aug. 29, 9:10 p.m. — MY VIDEO of Michele Bachmann’s Christian Testimony Used in SMEAR JOB
Tuesday, Aug. 30, 10:58 a.m. — Lowlife Who Pirated My Video Apologizes for Smearing Michele Bachmann

If Michelle Castillo has the advanced journalistic skills necessary to click that second link, she will discover that, when informed that his copyright infringement was the subject of contemplated legal action, the video pirate had published an apology and deleted the video from his YouTube channel early this morning, more than 12 hours before Castillo included his piracy as the No. 1 selection in the CBS News “Top 5 Viral Videos of the Week.”

As a veteran of 25 years in the news business, I promise you that if I were Michelle Castillo’s boss, I’d have several choice words to say to her, the mildest of which would be, “YOU’RE FIRED!”

And I’ll have a few more things to say about the egregious incompetence being practiced by the mainstream media in regard to this story, but first I’ve got to call my lawyer. CBS is going to be getting a letter from my lawyer P.D.Q., and if Michelle Castillo is not instantly terminated for this astonishingly shoddy excuse for journalism, I’d be greatly surprised.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! As for the Professor’s remark about funding my retirement, it may take years of expensive litigation to force the thievish scoundrels to pay up, and in the meantime I’ve got bills to pay, so please hit the freaking tip jar.

UPDATE II: Linked by Bob Belevedere at The Camp of the Saints — thanks!

Just got off the phone with my lawyer, who was finishing up the demand letter to Perez Hilton, whose site has a statement about their willingness to protect the intellectual property of others, with contact information for complaining about copyright violation.

In such letters, it is customary to demand that a retraction/apology be published with the same prominence as the original item about which complaint is made. But having included pirated video in their “Top 5 Viral Videos” round-up, what will CBS News do?

Besides firing Michelle Castillo, I mean . . .

UPDATE III: Thanks to Dana Loesch at Big Journalism for this link to a corrective video by our friends at the Media Research Center:

See? That’s what’s called “fair use” — employing a brief clip from my video in pursuit of truth, as opposed to recycling the pirated ripoff smear video in pursuit of a lie, which is what CBS News has done without even the slightest suggestion of effort toward what lawyers call “due diligence.” (Take notes, kids, this could be on the final exam.)

Meanwhile, our fellow fedora-wearer Ed Driscoll takes a walk down Memory Lane, to that long-ago era when Ken Layne was interested in truth.

UPDATE IV: Maetenloch at Ace of Spades HQ:

Even though it wasn’t what she said and made no sense in context, Ken Layne of Wonkette ran with it proclaiming Bachmann to be a crazy racist. But when it was shown to be a blatant hoax (with the original poster apologizing) he refused to make any corrections and has doubled down on the snark.

Now, I think some people may be misunderstanding my end of this situation. Bachmann is the one with the case for defamation, and that’s her business. My lawyer is pursuing action for copyright infringement, and you see how — with the pirated/edited video having been re-uploaded by Perez Hilton and recycled by CBS News — the original pirate set in motion a chain of events that is now beyond his control.

Already, I’ve seen at least two other versions of the pirate’s ripoff version re-uploaded to other YouTube accounts. (My lawyer is sending takedown notices as quickly as time permits.) Evidently, people do this kind of stuff — re-uploading ripoff videos — all the time, seeking to gain extra views to their YouTube accounts through online thievery.

The YouTube pirates may be doing this in ignorance of copyright law. Ignorance of the law is no defense, of course, but in most cases the original copyright owner is a big commercial enertainment outfit — Time/Warner for example — and once the pirated video is deleted from YouTube, their interest in the pirate ends.

In my particular case? Not so much.

“Good Lord these people are stupid.” You can say that again, brother. This left-wing anti-Christian jackwagon ripped me off and dishonestly edited my video to create a false smear against Michelle Bachmann, an honorable member of Congress, deserving of admiration and respect. The pirated smear video was then posted at numerous Web sites, recycled by other pirates, and included as the top item in a “viral video” roundup by a major news organization.

Dude.

I rattled the tip jar to get enough money to travel to Iowa to cover the campaign leading up to the Ames Straw Poll. I stood in the rain and mud at that festival to get video of Bachmann’s Christian testimony. And you’re going to take my hard work, funded through contributions from my loyal readers, hijack it and pervert it into a vicious smear?

Don’t you see what an overwhelming incentive I have to extract the maximum legal penalty from your sorry ass? And don’t you know that there are many thousands of people — including some very shrewd lawyers — who have been waiting many years for just such an opportunity as this, with some anonymous blog-pest like you caught red-handed in undeniable wrongdoing?

You had better pray God will have mercy on you.

Because my lawyers sure as hell won’t.

UPDATE V: Linked by Donald Douglas at American Power — thanks!

UPDATE VI: Mike at Cold Fury mentions the “fake but accurate” standard that CBS made infamous.

Category: CBS, Media Bias, Michele Bachmann, Video

Comments

104 Responses to “No Honor Among Thieves, No Curiosity Among Journalists: Perez Hilton Re-Pirates Video, CBS News Repeats Smear”

ThePaganTemple
August 31st, 2011 @ 4:44 am

So if I put a few tomato plants outside my house I should get ten or twenty thousand dollars from the federal government? Oh wait that’s right I would be a “farmer” I just wouldn’t be a black one, so I guess I’m shit out of luck. Damn I guess I better grow some pot like all the other deadbeats.
JeffS
August 31st, 2011 @ 4:57 am

Tsk tsk, Anamika, tsk tsk!

Your prejudices are shining through. Please keep it up; the world needs to see the true left.

Tsk tsk, Anamika, tsk tsk!
JeffS
August 31st, 2011 @ 4:59 am

Tsk tsk, Anamika, tsk tsk!

Your hatred and bitterness is a sterling example of why people shouldn’t trust lefties.

Tsk tsk, Anamika, tsk tsk!
JeffS
August 31st, 2011 @ 5:02 am

I see Anamika is diving right in with some pretty stupid spin control. More stupid than is usually her wont, I mean.

That tells me that you’re on target, Stacy. I can hit the tip jar in a few days; keep up the good work!
john lichtenstein
August 31st, 2011 @ 5:04 am

Adding a Perez Hilton watermark to a video he stole from someone who stole (and altered) it from you is remarkable.
Patrick
August 31st, 2011 @ 5:22 am

There is a disclaimer at the bottom of the CBS article
The What’s Trending show is produced by Shira Lazar Productions and the Disrupt Group, who are solely responsible for the content, opinions and viewpoints.

I still say go after them all.
Who likes dishonest people? » Cold Fury
August 31st, 2011 @ 1:53 am

[…] The anatomy of a smear: scumwad lifts a video by Stacy McCain of Michelle Bachmann at a rain-soaked Christian event asking the crowd, “Who like wet people?” Said scumwad edits video so that it sounds like she’s saying “Who likes white people?” instead. Liberal liars everywhere decide it fits the meme, is “fake but accurate,” and run with it all over the innarnuts — said lying liberals to include the shameless propagandists at CBS News, to wit: Everything that comes out of Michele Bachmann’s mouth is gold. A new video has her asking a crowd of people, “Who likes white people?” It doesn’t make any sense,so many explanations are surfacing from “White People Soul Power” being the band that played before, to the fact it was raining and Bachmann is asking about “wet” people. […]
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 6:06 am

Not to be a jackwagon or anything, but what ever happened to that guy who made a similar video accusing Rep. Lautenberg of saying “eliminate the rich”?

I listened to it carefully (I have a background in audio) and it was quite clear that he said “waste” not “rich.” I even made that point in two different blog comment systems, and saw that some others did, too. But it was ignored. Totally. You can see that several others have noted it, as well.

Breitbart pushed it, Rush played it, and so did Levin. All of them claimed he said “rich.” I haven’t seen or heard a single retraction, except from some site called “Seattle Lawyers”.

At any rate, Stacy should nail the folks who passed off the corrupted, pirated version of his video as truth. Nail them to the wall, baby.
Count de Money
August 31st, 2011 @ 6:14 am

There’s a ton of irony here about having the opportunity to go after CBS (i.e. Viacom) for a DMCA violation. Look up 17 USC 504(c).
Nicedeb
August 31st, 2011 @ 6:19 am

Kinda like the USA ‘redeemed’ itself by electing a black President? What bullshit.

I agree -it’s bullshit that whites were guilted into electing this SCOAMF for President, but what does that have to do with anything? Why all the misdirection?

Sherrod didn’t need to ‘redeem’ herself, ’cause she was never in the wrong in that ‘entire’ (not the edited) video.

Actually, she was wrong in both the edited and unedited versions of the video. And she continues to be wrong almost every time she opens her mouth.
Nicedebs
August 31st, 2011 @ 6:38 am

At Breitbart TV it was posed as a question, and updated:

Senior moment, or Freudian slip? Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) lets his
class warfare rhetoric get the best of him at a press conference in
Belmar, NJ.

Sen. Lautenberg’s net worth is over $50 million… by the way.

UPDATE: Some of our readers with extra-keen hearing think they hear the
Senator say “We got to eliminate the WASTE”. We’ll let you be the
judge.

http://tv.breitbart.com/sen-lautenberg-we-got-to-eliminate-the-rich/

Sometimes a story comes around that we call, “too good to check”, or sometimes we will hear something wrong. A conservative blogger doesn’t get something wrong on purpose because it damages credibility, plus, believe it or not, we think it’s unethical to lie. A sin, actually. No such barriers apply on the left. And most of the drones will believe whatever the senior fellow at Media Mutters types up, and they know it.

At Breitbart TV, they started out by letting readers make up their own minds, and when the readers weighed in, the post was updated to reflect that.
Rose
August 31st, 2011 @ 7:39 am

You have ears, Anamika, you can clearly hear Michele say WET people – and you are defending not only the distortion, but the theft?

You’re a piece of work.
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 8:18 am

Maybe it’s time to start pushing to change our laws regarding libel and slander. Currently it’s damn near impossible to convict anyone. Lower the bar. Make it a felony, with loss of voting rights, and hard prison sentences.

New Libel Law Enacted – Dims hardest hit.
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 11:18 am

Nail ’em. Nail ’em all.
Thanks for Answered Prayers, and Guess Who’s Going to New Hampshire? : The Other McCain
August 31st, 2011 @ 7:24 am

[…] Christian testimony it never occurred to me that it would provide such an unexpected blessing in such an unimaginable way.With bills piling up here at home, I’d been wondering how I was going to fund further travels […]
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 11:30 am

Your link to another Copperhead liar at bradblog doesn’t exactly constitute evidence….. but you knew that. Liar.
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 11:32 am

Bullshit: what Anamika sees in the mirror.
No Honor Among Thieves, No Curiosity Among Journalists: Perez Hilton Re-Pirates Video, CBS News Repeats Smear « That Mr. G Guy's Blog
August 31st, 2011 @ 7:36 am

[…] No Honor Among Thieves, No Curiosity Among Journalists: Perez Hilton Re-Pirates Video, CBS News Repe…. […]
No Honor Among Thieves, No Curiosity Among Journalists: Perez Hilton Re-Pirates Video, CBS News Repeats Smear « That Mr. G Guy's Blog
August 31st, 2011 @ 7:36 am

[…] No Honor Among Thieves, No Curiosity Among Journalists: Perez Hilton Re-Pirates Video, CBS News Repe…. […]
wmjdyer
August 31st, 2011 @ 11:40 am

Ask your lawyers whether talking on your blog about that which your lawyers are or aren’t going to do is a good plan.
LahnaScott
August 31st, 2011 @ 12:00 pm

I see the comments at CBS’s story are disabled.
Dan Collins
August 31st, 2011 @ 12:02 pm

What part of the Janice Hahn ad was smear? Is there a fact at issue, or did it simply offend your sensibilities? Because giving money to gangsters offends my brain.
Bob Belvedere
August 31st, 2011 @ 12:22 pm

Screw that. Organizations like CBS are dead networks walking.

Take the money Stacy and become the rich patron of us poor, but FMJRAing blogger friends of yours you always complain ain;t funding you.
Bob Belvedere
August 31st, 2011 @ 12:29 pm

http://thecampofthesaints.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/troll-doll-twohead-01.jpg
Bob Belvedere
August 31st, 2011 @ 12:31 pm

Actually, if you want to be 100% correct, she’s a piece of something else.
Anamika
August 31st, 2011 @ 12:47 pm

Yes, probably some flaw, some error in my development. I never said that I had anything down pat. I’m a work in progress, some might say a piece of work.
McGehee
August 31st, 2011 @ 1:56 pm

Attempted hijack of a comment thread into unrelated subject matter: ten yard penalty and loss of down.

Responding to hijack attempt in such manner as expedites said hijack: ten yard penalty and replay of down.

Guys, when you play by the troll’s rules, you contribute to its mission, which is to DISTRACT from the facts. Don’t do it.
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 2:19 pm

I have a major problem with that. Breitbart of all people should collar an audio pro to ferret out the answer. I listened to it with good audio equipment, and it’s VERY easy to hear, even on the clip provided which had a big, stupid graphic interfering with your visuals.

It’s easier to be fooled with sound, color, or texture, or taste, when someone provides a big, misleading text suggestion. So not doing the real analysis, and “leaving it up to” everyone else is exactly what the left does ALL THE TIME.

I guess we don’t need to be better.
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 2:27 pm

Not when better is defined as “losing”. Or, to quote Mr. Spock,”A civilized man can counterfeit a barbarian; he simply has to look at his core, and then revert. Once the need has passed, he can return to being civilized. The barbarian who has never been civilized cannot do the same. The difference is rather striking.”
Rose
August 31st, 2011 @ 2:31 pm

Anamika – assuming you are female – take note: This is what they do to females. Taking their words and distorting them, the fine art of character assassination in a scorched earth game. No male candidate faces the same kind of blowtorch, and here you are throwing the stones. You defend it with all your outraged being, and yet today it is Michele Bachmann and tomorrow it could be you. In Islamic countries you’d be buried up to your waist and your peers would be jockeying for position with their cellphones to get a good shot of the stone hitting your face, and ultimately, a cinder block crushing your skull for your merely having a male friend.

And who would defend you? Those whom you mock now, I’d guess. Bachmann has the courage to stand up to people who defame her and seek to shut her up.

I’m not saying we all should march in lock step, nor that you should vote for a woman just because she is female – anymore than you should vote for a man just because of his color – but you can clearly see that THIS CASE is wrong, she clearly said ‘wet people’ and the video is stolen and distorted in order to destroy her – ADMIT IT.

And be aware.
DaveO
August 31st, 2011 @ 2:41 pm

Interesting.

Question for the legal beagles: is there a number on how many people/agencies/organizations using the video without, or with false, attribution before a judge says it’s public domain/anyone can use it?

Perez Hilton, and certainly CBS News, have deep pockets, good lawyers, and time on their hands that would drain RSM’s and Bachmann’s financial-legal resources.

Would Hilton, On-knees, and CBS News lose? Does it matter if the trial is postponed until 2013, with constant requests for discovery, delay, and motions? That’s assuming no one comes forward pro bono.
mojo
August 31st, 2011 @ 2:44 pm

Wait, what was that sound?

I thought I heard a huge cash-register opening.

KA-CHING!!!
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 3:09 pm

Liar and a Dungbat.
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 3:14 pm

Lying, idiot Dungbat.
Daily Pundit » The Character Assassins of the Left
August 31st, 2011 @ 11:14 am

[…] No Honor Among Thieves, No Curiosity Among Journalists: Perez Hilton Re-Pirates Video, CBS News Repe… The piracy of my video and the smearing of Michele Bachmann continue, despite my having done two posts — here and here — explaining the true story. Here is a screen-cap from Perez Hilton’s site, showing that he downloaded and re-uploaded the pirated/edited “Who likes white people?” video, imprinting it with his own watermark: […]
Rlynh
August 31st, 2011 @ 3:15 pm

Silly man. Of course they know what they’re doing, advancing the narrative. They don’t care about inconsequential things like the truth.
The Arrogant Left Hates Rural, Conservative America. | We The Conservatives
August 31st, 2011 @ 11:16 am

[…] Stacy McCain describes the utter chicanery below. Castillo writes: Everything that comes out of Michele Bachmann’s mouth is gold. A new video has her asking a crowd of people, “Who likes white people?” It doesn’t make any sense, so many explanations are surfacing from “White People Soul Power” being the band that played before, to the fact it was raining and Bachmann is asking about “wet” people. […]
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 3:17 pm

Actually some sort of bizarre experiment gone awry.
Bruce Kahn
August 31st, 2011 @ 3:17 pm

Now
this is really fascinating….. I listened to the vid that was first
posted, trying really hard to hear every suggested iteration of what she
might be saying. White, wet, weight…. three very different vowel
sounds….and it sounded clearly like
“white”. I’ll mention that I’ve been a professional audio engineer for
over 30 years, and am quite adept at listening closely and critically to
audio minutia. Then, I listened to the “same” vid her defender posted, and by golly, she says “wet”! Couldn’t be clearer.I went back to the original post I heard to compare…. of course, it’s been removed.Interesting….
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 3:24 pm

I know you mean well but you’re attempting to reason with a spore.
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 3:26 pm

To be fair I doubt they comprehend the difference.
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 3:32 pm

Just because they assert a disclaimer doesn’t make it a viable defense. There are many terms, assertions and disclaimers some even in contracts that are not enforceable.
Anonymous
August 31st, 2011 @ 3:35 pm

Not enough to be better, must be better at it.
M Simon
August 31st, 2011 @ 4:23 pm

Get ’em Stacy.
Bleg: I Can Haz Play?
August 31st, 2011 @ 12:54 pm

[…] with Stacy, Da Techguy and Jay Tea of Wizbang when Sarah Palin gives her Labor Day address. Oh, and hope Stacy sues Perez Hilton’s ass off, though I’d settle for him getting punched in the head […]
The Wondering Jew
August 31st, 2011 @ 5:37 pm

R.S. McCain: “Hello Mr. Pirate, I’d like you to meet my attorney Mr. Honey Badger. . . “
The Arrogant Left Hates Rural, Conservative America.
August 31st, 2011 @ 2:38 pm

[…] Stacy McCain describes the utter chicanery below. Castillo writes: Everything that comes out of Michele Bachmann’s mouth is gold. A new video has her asking a crowd of people, “Who likes white people?” It doesn’t make any sense, so many explanations are surfacing from “White People Soul Power” being the band that played before, to the fact it was raining and Bachmann is asking about “wet” people. […]
Whitey Lawful
August 31st, 2011 @ 7:18 pm

In a white protestant and reactionary american way — she analogizes liberty.
richard mcenroe
August 31st, 2011 @ 11:56 pm

Still not one shred of proof for your sad lie Annie. Link to this video Breitbart edited.
Anonymous
September 1st, 2011 @ 5:10 am

Who the hell would define “better” as “losing?” What sort of thinking is that?

Moral relevance is not “winning.” It’s being the same as those who must be defeated. And don’t worry, I have no problem with hard work, SDN. None at all.