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"The Law is reason, free from passion" this famous quote by Aristotle is  prominent amongst todays academic community, specifically the legal one. However, I don’t know if i entirely agree with that statement. Don’t worry, i will explain why, but all in time, so let’s start from the beginning . . .

. . .I like today, not only was it a sunny and warm day, but it’s also an especially interesting day in business/legal world, which for me, equals a LOT of good reading!

Today started just like any other morning, after being ruthlessly awaken by a screaming alarm, i reached down for my trusty Mac next to my bed, always ready to go, ready to dive into the whirlwind of information, with it’s superior operating system:).., with it’s deceivingly-lazy. heart-beat  sleep indicator…

(if this was on a CD, you’d be able to play it backwards and hear me taunting *buy a mac* *buy a mac* on the background:)

. . .first thing opened, of course, the homepage: WSJ and right there it was, in big bold print: "Breaking News: Viacom sues Google…article to follow shortly"

The breaking story of the day… Viacom vs. Google… Two companies that i have very differing and in fact contradicting opinions about,  ironically enough  ended up on the same headline. Viacom as most of you (i hope) know is the parent company behind much of today’s "popular" television, (MTV, BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and the likes ) and of course Google……, well you know what Google is don’t you?

While I always felt that Viacom does very little to contribute to intellectual growth of the society (although i’m sure it begs to differ) citing quality shows like "Jackass" and "Laguna Beach", hence I’ve always thought that Google was the leading of the two in that department. I mean after all Google revolutionized the Internet as we know it, and is on the forefront of various noble technological pursuits that have often been meet with firm resistance from the "greedy" business people (Such as Google Book endeavors) and so forth… So with that prejudice in mind I dug into the full article that was posted on WSJ around noon…. and now…after reading that story and the Viacom complaint (the whole 27 pages of it) i have to say i am a little torn between my allegiances in this particular situation.

Whomever wrote the complaint obviously considered crafting a suit so that it appeals on more then one level, and i have to say it was well done. Reading this particular complaint was very interesting as it discussed various aspects of the infringement that is allegedly being done by YouTube (Google). I was amazed at the crafty use of emotional components that were appealing on deeply humanistic, yet so seemingly basic levels. The complaint shows that alleged wrong that is being done by sharing the copyrighted media is not only hurting the bottom dollar of a multi-billion corporation (Viacom) and often wealthy artists, but also hurts the little guys behind the scenes and in the end is contradictory to the whole core idea on which the American economy is established.

I think that in this particular complaint, picture that was painted by Viacom is especially gruesome in my opinion. I have long believed that innovation and creativity without sufficient incentive is doomed for failure; it’s only fair that people creating the content are entitled to some sort of profit. While personally i am unclear where the copyright infringement crosses the line i do know that the way YouTube and the so ever-smug co-founders dealt with the Viacom’s requests is unreasonable.

As i was reading this document i was remembering the Intellectual Property course i was a part of at the University of Wisconsin Law School Summer Program. I still recall the issues discussed then, and how seemingly important it was to the creative process to protect the unlawful distribution. I also recall thinking to myself how fascinating this field (intellectual property) in law is going to become in the next few years. And now, seems like things are getting quite interesting, at least to follow in the news. . .

….So what does all this have to do with Aristotle’s "reason free from passion" statement? Well it’s simple, in today’s overly litigious and legalistic society we have to be passionate about pursuing something, otherwise things will get left behind, truly important cases get tossed aside and overrun by celebrity burial lawsuits, oil field ownership disagreements and other legal issues motivated largely by greed. . .it also seems that the person behind crafting of the Viacom’s statement dismissed Aristotle’s statement as well, which made for one rather well written, appealing text.

I know this is only a very small and a narrow thought on the whole intellectual property issue but i think it will be interesting to watch and see what happens with this case… because the precedent that might be set here will effect many of us,even though it might all be unbeknown to us, at least as of yet.

Relevant Stuff:
Full text of Viacom’s YouTube Complaint (PDF Format)

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