This clearly needs a Hitler video response.

[UPDATE]: Heh.  Stacy McCain had the same initial reaction.

I don’t want to say ‘spoilsports,’ per se: there’s the tiny little detail that they do own the rights to the movie. But I’d much rather that they’d be cool with it.

Studio Plots Downfall of Hitler Meme on YouTube

Hitler Reacts to…’ — that patron saint of YouTube memes — seems to be on its way out. The clips, which dub a scene from the 2004 German-language film ‘Downfall,’ are being rapidly pulled by Constantin Films, which is claiming copyright infringement.

But I have a solution! What we should do is have everybody buy a copy of Downfall (the movie that this is based off of). Or, if not everybody, a bunch of people: Constantin Film (the company who own the rights) can pick a reasonable number. We hit that number, they let the viral thing keep going.

I think that this is actually a reasonable solution: they sell DVDs and we get to keep watching Hitler scream about the Dallas Cowboys.  Everybody wins.

5 thoughts on “This clearly needs a Hitler video response.”

  4. Except there’s a serious problem with their claim of copyright infringement: it’s called fair use for parody.

    Their original work has obviously been changed significantly from the original – unless of course they’re claiming that those subtitles are accurate translations of their original work and/or that people might reasonably assume that they are.

    Given that it’s an internetwide phenomenon now, there can be no serious argument that any confusion is taking place.

    If someone were to challenge their assertion of copyright, I’d be surprised if Constantin could actually win.

  5. Pingback: Constantin Films celebrates Hitler's birthday by forcing YouTube to remove Hitler parodies from 'Downfall' — Cynthia Yockey, A Conservative Lesbian

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