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Called "Lazy Sunday: The Chronicles of Narnia," the two and a half minute segment follows the rapping duo of "SNL" cast members Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg as they munch on Magnolia Bakery cupcakes, laud the "crazy delicious" combination of Mr. Pibb and Red Vines, and muse about the best route to a New York matinee of the new "Narnia" flick.
Comic rappers battle
to respond with its own rap video.
After airing on "SNL" on Dec. 17, the video scooped up a steady stream of devotees, racked up coverage from The New York Times and Newsweek, and even spawned
"It is (the characters') obliviousness to their total lack of menace--or maybe the ostentatious way they pay for convenience-store candy with $10 bills--that makes the video so funny, but it is the Internet that has made it a hit," the New York Times said on Dec. 27.
At YouTube, a site where people can upload and share personal video clips, at least one version of the file counted more than 5 million downloads--and multiple versions had appeared on the site.
On Thursday, YouTube visitors found the videos had been deleted.
"NBC recently contacted YouTube and asked us to remove 'Saturday Night Live's' 'Lazy Sunday: Chronicles of Narnia' video," the San Mateo, Calif.-based company, which formally launched its site last December, said in a notice posted to its blog. "We know how popular that video is, but YouTube respects the rights of copyright holders."
The video continues to reside on NBC's official "SNL" site, though its embedded video player appears to work only with Windows. Curiously, the skit remains downloadable for free through Google's video service. It's also available for $1.99 at Apple Computer's iTunes store.
NBC Universal spokesperson Julie Summersgill said the take-down notice issued to YouTube concerned not only the SNL sketch but also asked that "upwards of 500" entertainment- and Olympics-related clips be pulled. She said NBC contacted a number of other sites but declined to name which ones.
"Our goal on this is that obviously we want to find a balance between supporting the fan base that's out there for these shows but also protect a significant amount of copyrighted material," Summersgill said, noting that it has been a "relatively amicable process," with most sites removing the offending content within 24 to 36 hours.
CNET News.com's Declan McCullagh contributed to this report.
See more CNET content tagged:
YouTube, video
This get's my ******* of the week award or should be pull my head out of my corporate ass award.
Have a great weekend!
bit too late will have to pay $2 to download the skit.
And even when it was free, iTunes' download required a US credit
card or a prepaid card for the US version of iTunes-- probably due
to region protection. So it's still locking out people in SNL-
deprived countries.
- Annoyed Non-Windows/Non-IE user
extracting its URL from the page source and entering it directly into
WMP. I can only assume they're using some weird DRM to prevent
people from ripping it with 'unauthorized' players...
New Technology: Good
Media Attention: Bad
Greedy Corporations: Lower than scum
If a corporation releases digital medium "into the wild" for free, have they given up rights to control the inertia generated as a direct result of their actions.
It seems to me that this is new ground.
If the skit is a cult hit, downloaded by millions, THIS IS THE BEST ADVERTISING AND NEW VIEWER GENERATOR THAT SNL HAS HAD FOR OVER A DECADE.
For those who picked up on it early, yes, NBC is full of morons. NOT BRIGHT COMPANY
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4245337360492479670&q=narnia
Well done NBC -- burning up goodwill AND failing to solve the problem you set out to fix. That's impressive.
the "Product"... although they might seem to be megajerks, Why
should they let anyone use content when the shareholders of their
parent company ,General Electric would have to go hungry without
their advertising revenue... big media is scared poopless by the
internet... that is why they are trying to legislate their control over
it... just a matter of time... Youtube or someone else will provide
content as long as you get forcefed toothpaste etc commercials...
- by captainpablo October 18, 2009 2:54 PM PDT
- I am waiting for one of these Giants to grab Qtrax and change the worlds Music industry
- Like this Reply to this comment
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