Disney blocks Muppet Babies videos on YouTube

[Drtooth]

Take it off and then hide it from the public forever it would seem. Copyright isn't protecting artists anymore. It's just a way for cheap executives to save money and throw their weight around.

I get the whole idea of blocking movies and current TV shows even though it doesn't really save any money either way. Pirates aren't going to pay for movies either way, most fans tend to legally support the films be it theatrical release, home video or legal download releases. Television doesn't work the same way it used to, and while most tend to go to the legal alternatives, not everything is available legally.

But what ticks me the heck off is what Disney's doing here. And this isn't an "OH! Disney's evil and Disney was a racist antisemitic nut that had weird issues with Hispanic woman" anti-Disney rant. This is an every freaking company does it rant. Such and such will never be a profitable show released legally, yet we don't want to lose potential profits from a show we're refusing to profit off of because we don't think it's profitable. It's one way or the other. Release something legally on whatever format possible and give the fans what they want or pretend it never existed and don't freak out when crappy 20-30 year old VHS quality surface for free. I'm sure the fans would much rather support legal DVD (at least) quality from master tapes than something that's been in someone's basement for a couple decades. If Disney released these to even just Hulu or Netflix, that's one thing. But they're just sitting on these rights, not making money off them, so what's the point of freaking out about lost money for something they're not trying to make money off of to begin with? It's not like it's Inside Out losing a potential couple of mil because of some bad iPhone recording from a Russian website. I mean, at least with that the Trojan Horse viruses are punishment enough. They're poor quality VHS captures of a show you don't even bother with. Make them available if you're afraid of losing money.

Yes but not a single person involved gets any royalties when you view an illegally uploaded youtube video.

Not a single person gets any royalties when it's something hidden in a cave. There's no money lost if no money is attempted. Piracy does suck, that's for sure. So doesn't burying licenses and sitting on shows/movies because they won't be successful enough. It's baffling that smaller companies took cues from piracy, especially anime dub companies. They pretty much have deals to simulcast shows within hours of their Japanese releases. We got Space Dandy dubbed and aired on television before the Japanese version did! The thing is, they saw a problem and found initiative to take it down the right way. Offering a better alternative. And if you get these on hulu, they don't even force you into Hulu plus to watch them. Where is this initiative on the parts of bigger companies?

 

[CensoredAlso]

Yes but not a single person involved gets any royalties when you view an illegally uploaded youtube video.

And if the companies never release them, no one gets to see them. I sympathize with the artists, I really do, but the pirates aren't the root of the problem.

 

[Drtooth]

Just said that.

It really depends on which artist you talk about. Some are quite forgiving and actually polite about it. Even Henson pulls stuff down, but in at least one case I remember a YT member was asked to pull down the Fraggle Rock cartoon episodes. Only for them to release the series a while later. Weird Al didn't mind fans trading and uploading episodes of his Saturday Morning TV show but asked them to stop when the official DVD was released. The point isn't so much protecting copyrights so much as giving fans, especially ones willing to pay for it, official acknowledgement and a legal alternative.

By all means, we have the technology to release everything in the world available. It's bullcrap that even with that there are annoying hold outs due to strange rights and refusals.

 

[Muppet Master]

Well there are several other accounts with The Muppet Show, and weird that they did not delete Muppets Tonight, probably don't think it wll ever make a lot of money.

 

[JJandJanice]

Like already mentioned, this isn't just a "Disney thing." Matter of fact after reading this thread I saw the latest video of the Nostalgia Critic, where he reviewed Jurassic World and he touched on the subject of his videos getting taken off the web. Which is why in this video he doesn't show clips from said movie (though that would be hard in itself because the movie isn't available for home release yet), he and his crew instead act out the parts in a comical way. Not quite the same situation as this whole Muppet Babies thing, but still interesting to note. If you don't want to watch the whole review check out at least the black and white clip at the beginning to see what I'm talking about here.

And of course in his case he isn't even showing the whole movie or TV series that he reviews.

 

[Rugratskid]

I understand removing seasons 1-3 of TMS, and anything else that has an official DVD.. in fact, I SUPPORT Disney removing Muppet videos, BUT ONLY ones that are of things that are available for purchase, or viewing in a legal way. But Muppet Babies? C'mon Disney, that's just cruel to us fans. Even if you DO own the show, if you can't release it due to copyright, and won't release it, why remove the videos? But if this is a sign of some upcoming Muppet Babies DVDs or episodes made available for purchase online, then I'm all for this. But if not, I don't see their reasoning for removing them. Does anyone have any links for any videos that have been blocked to confirm this? Not saying it's a lie or anything, but I'd just like to be 100% positive.

 

[Schfifty]

Does anyone have any links for any videos that have been blocked to confirm this? Not saying it's a lie or anything, but I'd just like to be 100% positive.

Yeah. Take a look at my Baby Gonzo playlist. Every episode uploaded by mbfan07 is blocked, except for Part 3 of "Quoth the Weirdo" for some reason. All the non-episode videos (even the Spanish dub version of "The Weirdo Zone") are still intact.

 

[D'Snowth]

FWIW, Disney deleted, not blocked, but deleted my posting of Grover's appearance on Jimmy Kimmel - I even got a strike from it.

 

[Drtooth]

I understand removing seasons 1-3 of TMS, and anything else that has an official DVD.. in fact, I SUPPORT Disney removing Muppet videos, BUT ONLY ones that are of things that are available for purchase, or viewing in a legal way. But Muppet Babies? C'mon Disney, that's just cruel to us fans. Even if you DO own the show, if you can't release it due to copyright, and won't release it, why remove the videos? But if this is a sign of some upcoming Muppet Babies DVDs or episodes made available for purchase online, then I'm all for this.

Before everyone thinks this is a Disney Anti-Muppet conspiracy, they're WORSE with Disney Afternoon and other cartoon TV shows. They refuse to release any of the rest of them on DVD because they "sold poorly," yet downright deleted accounts that had them up. Not blocked... deleted. And with the Muppets... sure, they didn't finish the original series on DVD and it's doubtful they ever will, and there's absolutely NO shot at a Muppet Babies DVD (the time to release it was last decade, frankly) at least there were 2 movies and a TV show. Darkwing gets a poorly colored T-shirt and a comic book series that's long gone. Though there is the matter of a new Ducktales series in 2 years. At least that's something.

 

[Rugratskid]

I don't get why companies didn't clear permanent rights for whatever they use in their shows, so they don't have rights issues in the future (Alvin and the Chipmunks from the 80's won't ever get a full DVD release because of cover songs).