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<div style="font-size: 300px; position: absolute; top: 120px; left: 0; display: block;"><span style="background: pink;">Article closed due to AIDS.</span></div> |
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'''eBaum's World''' (subtitled "Media for the masses") is a ] featuring media such as ]s, ] ]s and ]. It is highly controversial for many reasons, primarily because content on the website is taken from other sources without permission and rebranded with the eBaum's World logo.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ebws.com/ |title = Ebaum's World Sucks language=English |accessdate=2008-02-29}}</ref> The site, which was originally co-owned by '''Eric "eBaum" Bauman''' and his father, Neil Bauman, of ], ranks in the top 1000 sites on the Internet according to the website ].<ref> http://alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?q=&url=ebaumsworld.com Alexa</ref> On August 2, 2007, eBaum's World was acquired by ] in a complex deal involving stock and $15 million in cash.<ref>http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-handheld-to-acquire-ebaums-world-for-17-million paidcontent.org</ref> |
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==Features== |
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{{Original research|section|date=March 2008}} |
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The site features individual celebrity ]s where users can click buttons to hear quotes or phrases spoken by that celebrity. By pressing certain buttons in an organized order, users can simulate the celebrities saying unusual things. In this way, the soundboards are commonly used in ]. These calls are often recorded and subsequently re-submitted to the site. |
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eBaum's World has a very large forum community, with thousands of members and over one million posts. There is also a ], and a store which sells eBaum merchandise. There is also a section called "Moron Mail" which features feedback sent in by users. |
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eBaum's World has a very large collection of prank and comedic photos which are divided into signs, Photoshop images, and misleading croppings of normal pictures. |
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This site also has a very large collection of Flash movies, games, and ], some of which have been taken from other websites without permission. Some of the more famous ones are the ], ] (despite the creator's explicit statements that he does not want it hosted on eBaum's World,<ref></ref> and "''Where's Waldo?''".{{Fact|date=February 2007}} |
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==Controversy== |
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eBaum's World has been the subject of significant controversy in many Internet communities due to numerous incidents of content being taken from other sites; such as ], ], ], ], ], ] and ] without attribution. For example, Olde English always finishes their videos with a screen that states that "This video is protected under a ] License"; in more than one video copied from Olde English to eBaum's World, the final screen is cut out of the video, whereas YouTube and other video sites have it in to credit the creators. Companies such as ],<ref name="court tv">{{cite web |url=http://www.courttv.com/news/cow/022603_prankcalls_ctv.html |title=Is Judge Judy calling you? A media giant wants to know. |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML |publisher=Turner Entertainment Digital Network, Inc. }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20021115120705/www.ebaumsworld.com/legalsoundboards.html |title=Re: Ebaumsworld.com |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML |last=Levitt|first=Mallory |date=2002-11-13}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20050303004436/www.ebaumsworld.com/grapefall-legal.html |title=legal - Grape Stomping Video |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML |date=2004-04-28 }}</ref> and ] have all claimed that eBaum's World has infringed on their copyrights as well. Eric Bauman denies critics' claims that the site's content is stolen, citing research done by site editors and the consent form that must accompany uploads of material. He claims to honor all requests to remove unauthorized material , but this is contested by some content creators. In particular, web artist and animator ], was only able to have his animations removed at the beginning of ]. Bauman has claimed that he formerly worked with Picking, though Picking has stated that this is false. |
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A web site, , has been set up by ]/] supporters ], Shawn Vulliez, and Abi Rendon (a former eBaum's World employee) to document the ongoing eBaum's World controversy. The site hosts a page containing statements from content creators claiming that some of their works appear on eBaum's World without permission. Bauman has demanded that the site be taken down, a request that has been ignored. |
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On one occasion, users from the ], ], ] and ] launched a ] attack against the site.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.lelezard.com/actu/3167/ebaumsworld-assiege.html |title = Ebaumsworld assiégé|publisher=Le Lézard|language=French|accessdate=2008-01-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.vitalsecurity.org/2006/01/lindsay-lohan-causes-massive-dos-war.html |title = Lindsay Lohan causes massive DoS war|publisher= Vitalsecurity.org|accessdate=2008-01-20}}</ref> |
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===Timeline of controversies=== |
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*As early as ], Eric Bauman had been threatened by legal action by corporations, citing unauthorized use of trademarked names or copyrighted material. One notable case involved the ] and the audio used within them.<ref name="court tv" /> |
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*In early ], ] sent a ] letter claiming that the ] parody videos, originally made by independent producer ''FenslerFilm'', violated their registered trademarks and copyrights. The videos were not removed, since FenslerFilm did not face any legal action. |
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*Since ] ], several arguments between eBaum's World forum members and Something Awful forum members have occurred concerning the posting of "Photoshop Phriday" images on eBaum's World without permission. |
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*On ] ], eBaum's World hosted and watermarked a ] montage created by Derek Lutz (of YTMND), while crediting neither him nor YTMND. Users from YTMND responded by disrupting the eBaum's World forums with spam posts and ] attacks. On ], eBaum's World alleged the attacks were a form of "cyber-terrorism", and on ], Neil Bauman stated publicly that arrests were being made in relation to the attacks (though none have been made public as of yet.) Max Goldberg, owner of YTMND, and Neil Bauman eventually came to an agreement, with Bauman agreeing to remove the montage from his website, and in return, for Goldberg removing any reference to "eBaum" from his website. Despite the resolution, both sites experienced DDoS attacks on the morning of ], 2006. |
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*On ] ], ], an eBaum's World representative, appeared on ]'s '']'' to try to clear up the recent controversy with YTMND. ], co-host of the show, asked Parker explicit questions about the alleged infringing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/blog/AOTB/post/562507/The_Ebaums_World_Interview.html |title=G4 - Attack of the Show - The Ebaum's World Interview |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format= |date=2006-02-24 }}</ref> Parker claimed: |
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: {{cquote|There aren't any written rules or regulations. We're trying to do our due diligence and do the things that we feel are right by not taking other people's material without crediting them or contacting them first. We try to...we contact all these people. Like if we something we like, like a game, we don't just put it on our site. We contact these people. And if you notice with all our new Flash games, we have our own intro in them, and it's done by the creators and we pay them for that.}} |
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*On ] ], several images from the Something Awful forums were displayed on the eBaum's World website.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/mixedup-movies.php |title=Mixed-up Movies |date=2005-07-29 |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML|first=Josh "Livestock" |last= Boruff }}</ref> The images on eBaum's World were cropped to remove the Something Awful watermark. The page was removed later in the day following multiple complaints being expressed on the eBaum's World forums. As a result, Something Awful switched to a more invasive ] template.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/paintings-light-ii.php?page=1 |title=Paintings of Light II |accessdate=2008-04-05 |format=HTML|first=Josh "Livestock" |last= Boruff |date=2006-06-09}}</ref> |
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*In December of 2006 and January of 2007, individuals who identified themselves as being from eBaum's World (among other websites) "raided" ] in a ] attack, taking his site offline and racking up thousands of dollars of bandwidth bills, according to Turner himself.<ref name="freep">{{cite web|url=http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-njdce/case_no-2:2007cv00306/case_id-198438/|publisher=justia.com|title= HAROLD C. " HAL" TURNER v. 4CHAN.ORG et al| accessdate=2007-09-18}}</ref> |
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==eBaum's World on television== |
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On ] ], ] made a deal with the ] to create a television program based on eBaum's World. Producers described it as a late-night companion special to air with '']'' featuring clips from the website, as well as new and exclusive content including interviews with former and current eBaum's World subjects. The Show was to feature former ] Host ] of Unscrewed and professional wrestler ]. The show was being executive produced by ] through his production company, ], in association with Fox Television Studios. The ] letters from this company were removed when this show was announced.<ref>{{cite web|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050303004436/www.ebaumsworld.com/grapefall-legal.html|url=http://www.ebaumsworld.com/grapefall-legal.html|archivedate=2005-03-03|title=Legal - Grape Stomping Video|date=], ]|accessdate=2007-07-03|author=Fox Intellectual Property Department|publisher=eBaum's World}}</ref> |
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On ] ], a researcher named Bradley Scott from eBaum's World TV show contacted the webmaster of ], asking the webmaster to sign over the site's content while refusing to admit what show it was for. The producer of eBaum's World television show finally admitted who he was but did not directly acknowledge the content that appears on eBaum's World, including Albino Blacksheep's. The webmaster recorded samples of these calls for their message boards.<ref></ref> |
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The show's pilot was expected to air in ], but USA passed on the pilot.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chris Jericho Dealt Another Blow, SmackDown Rating Increases, The Rock...|url=http://rajah.com/base/node/6408|date=], ]|accessdate=2007-07-03|publisher=Rajah.com}}</ref> |
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==Other endeavors== |
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Since July 2004, eBaum's World has sponsored professional ] ].<ref>{{cite pressrelease|url=http://www.ebaumsworld.com/press/rock-toneyPR.pdf|publisher=eBaum's World|title=Internet Meets Boxing… Again!|date=], ]|quote=The relationship between Hasim Rahman and eBaum's World goes back to July 2004 when Eric Bauman met Rahman in Rochester, NY...}}</ref> |
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==References== |
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<div class="references-small"> |
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<references/> |
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</div> |
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==External links== |
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* - Official Website. |
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* - October 2006 article from ]. |
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* |
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* - A song about eBaum's World (Contains offending language) |
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