MY VIDEO of Michele Bachmann’s Christian Testimony Used in SMEAR JOB

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This is so shocking I don’t know how to begin to describe it. Regular readers will recall that on Friday, Aug. 5, I covered an appearance by Michele Bachmann at the Spirit Midwest Christian Music Festival in West Des Moines, Iowa. It had been raining all afternoon before Bachmann arrived and gave her Christian testimony, which I recorded on video and posted the next day.

Some vicious monster ripped off my video and edited it, so that when Bachmann begins by jokingly asking the crowd, “Who likes wet people?” — because everybody was soaked to the bone, including me — instead there is a caption, “Who likes white people?”

Ken Layne of Wonkette then spread that smear all around the Internet.

Thank goodness, Chris Moody of Yahoo News spotted the lie and posted the truth.

Now, who do I sue for copyright infringement, piracy and fraud?

UPDATE: Linked by Da Tech Guy, by Eternity Matters and by Lisa Graas at The American Catholic and welcome, Instapundit readers! I’ve also written this up at Right Wing News and cross-posted at the Hot Air Green Room, concluding:

[A]fter I learned that my video had been stolen and misused for such a defamatory purpose, I put up a blog post denouncing the smear, and sent an e-mail to the anonymous proprietor of the “On Knees” Web site. He then deleted his first lie and substituted another vicious smear as a “correction.” But his pirated and re-edited version of my video — a clear violation of my copyright, and of YouTube’s terms of service agreement — is still online. I have spoken to an attorney and fully intend that the perpetrator of this crime will be brought to justice.

And I want the creep who did this to understand that he has just forfeited whatever legal right he had to anonymity. In pursuit of legal action, my attorney informs me, we can subpoena YouTube to get the actual name of this pseudonymous monster, who has made the mistake of picking the wrong dude to rip off in pursuit of his vile purposes.

By the way, Bachmann’s campaign manager is Ed Rollins, a guy who isn’t likely to take this kind of crap too kindly, either.

UPDATE II: Linked by Roxeanne de Luca and by Joy McCann at the Conservatory — thanks!

UPDATE III: Linked by Duane Lester at All American Blogger and by Bob Belvedere at The Camp of the Saints — thanks!

UPDATE IV: Lowlife Who Pirated My Video Apologizes for Smearing Michele Bachmann — we’ll see what my attorney says about this.

Linked at Pirate’s Cove — thanks!


79 comments

  1. Do a YouTube search on “Michelle bachmann preaching “. There’s another account that has the same edited version posted: spqr1052.

    (I tried to copy and paste a direct link, but I’m using a phone, and it isn’t doing it right.)

  3. Looks like “your friend” is in San Jose.

    I was shocked reading Wonkette its especially low, even for them. 

    If you can get them to reply to an email send me the header. 

  4. The lowlife’s “apology” is priceless.  Incomplete (no contrition toward Ms. Bachmann) and groveling (as well it should be), it’s a naked attempt to avoid the legal consequences of his chicanery.

    http://tinyurl.com/3hxf8ow

  6. Get ’em, Mr. McCain.  And who knows, maybe some deep pockets guy is supporting his blog, or is behind the rapid spread of it about the leftosphere, and you can sue for Big Bucks.

    And even if you don’t win….can you say ‘discovery’? Sure you can.  Might be some very interesting docs that could be put to good use on the blog of an enterprising reporter. (not sure if it works quite like that, but I thought I’d toss the idea out there.)

  10. I have a question: is it copyright infringement because he copied it, changed it, and then reposted it with the changes? 

    Would it have been copyright infringement if he had done all that but still given credit to the owner?

    Would it have been copyright infringement if he had simply embedded the video from its original location (I notice you have embedding enabled on the video) but then described it in his inaccurate way?

    Honest questions, honestly asked because I’m naturally curious.  Plus I didn’t get to see the video on his webpage, so I don’t know how he presented it.

  12. There are statutory damages of 75k  per copy in copyright law.  297 uploads……  At the very least either a contributory or inducing infringment for each one…..

    iirc, you might need to register the copyright to take advantage of the statutory damages though…………

  15. This is the typical bottom feeder style of both Gawker and Wonkette. Their sites are both sess pools of psuedo-intellectuals, granola throwing monkeys and worse – communist hipsters who drive volts.

    Sue ’em.

  16. Ain’t it funny? a similar thing happened a few years back with Andrew Breibart and Barack Obama

  17. Ain’t it funny? a similar thing happened a few years back with Andrew Breibart and Barack Obama

  19. Here’s hoping your lawyer is an ill-tempered pit bull. 😉

    d(^_^)bhttp://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/”Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive”

  21. just sayin’… im pretty sure that you cant really sue him because his blog is obviously a parody. you can use other peoples videos of stuff without permission as long as you’re parodying it… so what he did is legal

  28. Politicians lie and cheat all the time,it’s all public domain. If you put it out there without rights then I can steal it all I want……….who would ever listen to a case as stupid as this anyway . You would have had to actually copyright the thing first…not just say it but really do it…takes a bit of paperwork.Plus Bachmann is the biggest liar out there,who gives a shit,shes a loser anyway.

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