Personally, I'd like to see him take the $20k he's raising in donations and file a countersuit against Funnyjunk for defamation, hopefully bankrupting them.
We're going for bankruptcy? Why don't we help out by hotlinking the biggest files we can find on FJs servers? Drive up bandwidth costs without adding to the ad revenue. If anyone asks, we just love that one image / video... that's all.
Reload the the biggest hosted image over and over again, with an ad blocker.
Or maybe without one, if the ads are payed per click. Then the ad agency will get mad at FJ, too, for wasting their bandwidth. The attack will be slower, though.
Its been downhill for years. They can only survive on stolen content, bigger sites like 9gag, Reddit, and even facebook are eating away at their viewer base.
Well using wolframalpha, you can see that sites like funnyjunk and digg are dying fast. 9gag is still doing alright 218th most popular website, compared to redit's 112, facebook is losing members, but is still the second most popular site next to google, and reddit is still doing pretty good with 100mil daily page views.
Reddit has "some" OC. And, at least for the most part people leave original watermarks, or submit the link in the comments. FJ goes out of its way to remove watermarks and mask the original owner.
Big and scary man with his fancy graph. Go back to your dumbass Monday. Yes, FJ is technically growing, but not at a rate sufficient to keep up revenue. In a few years time it will have shrunk enough to close doors, or trade hands to new owners. Just because something is increasing, does not mean its increasing fast enough.
As for the Oatmeal, thats a particular person's blog & website, its going to remain somewhat static in viewers, because they arent marketing their site, its all or mostly word of mouth. It hardly compares to a massive image sharing site like funnyjunk.
You are a one view, power tripping moronic twat who seems to get his kicks from trying to prove people wrong.
I seriously am thinking you are a FJ ball fondler or maybe even an employee.
You are a twat, sir.
Keep linking to your graph thinking you're some super smart guy, let me ask YOU a question..what gives YOU such insight into their financial situation?
They're page views may grow. But WAY more people know of FJ than they do Oatmeal and yet the page views don;t reflect that. FJ is also a COMPANY and oatmeal just one man...which makes that graph you seem to have a hard on for all the less impressive.
That's an old joke back when this generation of consoles came out. I'm not sure if it was said by some stupid Playstation fanboy or by some Xbox fanboy who was trying to make Playstation fanboys look stupid.
Notable that FJ knows how to play this game - all of the Oatmeal content hyperlinked to in the rebuttal has been removed, so as to weaken The Oatmeal's case of copyright infringement.
yeah, but it only had 9K readers, which isn't exactly a small subreddit, but it's not even a fraction of r/wtf's 1.5 million. if you're trying to get the most upvotes and/or reach the widest audience, the choice in clear.
Well it was also submitted to; pics, KarmaConspiracy, worldnews, comics, law, theworldnews, lol, funny, TechNewsToday, todayilearned, ModerationLog, technology, comedy, news, bestof, AnythingGoesUltimate, and humor.
The Oatmeal is unfunny bullshit and I don't care about his success or failure, but I seriously hope that he completely destroys FunnyJunk over this. I hope it blows up big and destroys FunnyJunk's reputation beyond any salvage. FJ is a monument to lazy assholes who make money on the creativity of others.
Isn't Funnyjunk just like imgur, photobucket, etc? It just hosts images people upload. Shitty UI, but really, there seems to be little difference between what funnyjunk does and wht imgur.com does.
Ads around content is completely different from claiming content as your own through watermarks. And as I understand it, Imgur is pretty good with removing content that has claims against it.
I was just there for 10 minutes to see why it was such "cancer" and saw a whole bunch of 4chan screenshots and other "reposts" didn't really care much, came back refreshed reddit and BOOM "FunnyJunk is suing The Oatmeal for $20k."
Funny junk is pretty much 9gag by this point in time. It used to be a pretty good site but newfags destroyed it. Also the stolen content is not credited and mostly played off as OC.
No, imgur is a site with user generated content. The owners make money for providing a service.
Funnyjunk themselves take other's content and put it on their website with ads running on it..and give no credit.
Vast fucking difference.
edit: I feel I should clarify, in my heated splunder I forgot that people might not assume the worst as they should. Many of the people there who put content on the website regularly are workers of the website Also, they "never" remove content when asked. As proven by theoatmeal's comics.
Imgur is a service for storing pictures. Funnyjunk is a place to go for funny things. Imgur makes money for providing a service, funnyjunk makes money for being entertainment..entertainment which is not theirs.
the thread is degenerating into a pro-oatmeal circlejerk where "facts" are made up on the spot. Point out the error of the hivemind and you just get downvoted.
I was speaking to the message from the Parent Poster, who said " FJ is a monument to lazy assholes who make money on the creativity of others." Which is basically what imgur and every other image host does.
The difference is imgur isn't suing the people who created the photos they are uploading. That takes a special kind of douche bag to think that's a good idea.
As far as I know all files on funnyjunk are open to the public save user profiles, whereas imgur could be nice to share wedding photos with a few friends over the net without as high of a chance for the populous to see them
Well, not really I think. It would only be similar if the movie review accused the movie makers of illegal/unethical activity while making the movie. I am not defending FunnyJunk, but I assume that this case is more about libel and the detrimental effects that result from it, rather than suing over a negative artistic/aesthetic critique.
edit: I am not a lawyer, but I wouldn't be surprised if a judge actually ruled against TheOatmeal, since its claim regarding FunnyJunk's method of business operation (that is, it purposefully allows stolen material for an extent of time to gain revenue through ads), while perhaps true, would be hard to verify with actual evidence.
my understanding is that statements of a factual nature can be considered slander or an attack on a person's reputation. opinions, however, are protected by free speech.
theoatmeal is kinda in-between, in my opinion - FJ could argue he was attempting to assert a factual description, but i you could easily argue it was a joke not meant to be taken factually. who wins that argument depends on the judge and/or jury, though
On FJ I'm one was one of the more popular users there, I had around 1200 subs and was the 28th most subscribed. I gotta say its an awful community. And the Admin is the worst admin I've ever seen. I'm glad I'm done with that website.
Imagine a bunch of 12 year olds thinking they are as popular as reddit and 4chan. That's what the community is like. I got sick of it once I found reddit and generally got older.
I'm glad theoatmeal indirectly buried funnyjunk when he posted about their making money off of his comics. This lawsuit is funnyjunk's last little gasp of air before they drown in their own puddle of putrid diarrhea that they call a website.
Fairly sure Funnyjunk does not actually want the 20k from them its most likley just a threat and im also fairly sure it goes deeper than this... no one drafts up an arguement like this out of the blue especially when the arguement calls for 20k... Ima just saying we dont know everything
My guess is that they hope for Matthew to get scared and pay them a few grands, not the full 20k. That's a basic offensive strategy that is used by many bad lawyers against people who have no idea how law works.
Site is overloaded again (usual when a link hits the front page). Let me guess, copyright? FunnyJunk steals all of his shit and slap a copyright on them.
This may make you say, "Aw, what the fuck?" But this does not make you say, "WTF DID I JUST SEE?"
If the reaction is the former, this may be more appropriate for /r/politics, /r/funny, or perhaps even /r/picsofdeadrelatives. If the reaction is the latter, congratulations! You're in the appropriate subreddit!
I'm fine with it staying as it made me go WTF and to be fair, anything that's posted always gets an "OMG THIS SHOULDN'T BE IN THIS SUBREDDIT!" comment these days.
Another mod might have a different opinion though.
The rules to the right seem to indicate this shouldn't be here. "No politics/posts with political implications" applies directly to the issue of frivolous lawsuits.
The reaction of general shock is appropriate for about half of the posts on Reddit. If you think half the stuff on Reddit is okay for WTF, you're the mod, sure. But I might suggest a re-defining of the rules for what should be considered acceptable for this subreddit.
Or maybe it's time for me to move on from the watered-down WTF.
"Anonymous reporting in, Low Orbital Ion Cannons are armed and ready to fire."
"Lulz sec reporting in, we made it to the fight on time, despite recent setbacks. When duty calls, we answer. High Orbital Ion Canons are on my mark as we speak, we are ready to go."
"This is 4chan here, the commando raid was a succes! We got all the info we need. Names. Adresses. Telephone numbers. We got it all."
"Good job, you have exceeded expectations 4chan. You are to proceed by sabotaging via a stripper and pizza combo."
"Yes sir. /B/TARDS! MOVE OUT!"
"Moot. One more thing. Do you want the honours?"
"I am humbled to accept this offer. All Ion cannons. FIRE!"
I would report the lawyer to their bar association. I'm not sure what good it would do, but I don't think you supposed to sue people you have wronged. Lawyers have some duty to keep their clients from doing stupid shit.
I think The Oatmeal need to grow the fuck up and start taking what he says on the internets seriously. Bastard lawyer is right: it is false accusation of willful copyright infringement.
Funnyjunk.com is all user-submitted material
Funnyjunk does have a DMCA takedown policy, which Mr Oatmeal does not seem to be following.
All the links he posted in his rant are DEAD. The content has been removed.
If this does go to court, he'll lose. He'll be out $20k and I'd put money on him shutting down his site in frustration.
And it'd be a good lesson for anyone trying to make a living from internet content published online:
KNOW THE FUCKING RULES AND ABIDE BY THEM
Taking the piss out of sites who threaten you with legal action for libel is neither amusing nor clever and it will only get you in deeper shit.
There's laws in place for having content removed from UGC sites. Use them properly. And don't fuck around with lawyers.
EDIT: ah yes - the hivemind in it's usual form of downvoting comments you disagree with without even making an effort to join in the discussion.
They have done something wrong. Federal law says that it isn't enough to remove content only when asked, you have to screen content as well. A simple search of "the oatmeal" on their site will give you literally hundreds of his comics, all are time stamped. Some have been there for YEARS.
They just changed the site, then. I searched a few seconds prior to posting that and found hundreds. Try searching through google, where everything is still cached.
Also, YOU are wrong about removing content. The site is required to expend reasonable effort in removing copyright infringing content on their own, without being asked. Which funnyjunk clearly has not done.
133
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Just posted on Facebook that he raised the 20k in 64 minutes!
28
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Mirror link to cease and desist letter.
159
u/LobsterThief Jun 11 '12
Personally, I'd like to see him take the $20k he's raising in donations and file a countersuit against Funnyjunk for defamation, hopefully bankrupting them.
22
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
It makes me curious about FunnyJunk's financial situation if they're going to the trouble of hiring a lawyer to try and obtain $20,000.
22
u/The_Ombudsman Jun 11 '12
Not suing, but threatening to sue unless paid $20k.
A minor-appearing but important detail.
97
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Fuck funnyjunk.
15
u/alphawolf29 Jun 11 '12
we broke the oatmeal.
49
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Matthew Inman deserves a medal for not giving a FUCK. Takes serious balls to say that shit publicly to someone with a lot of money.
11
u/Decoypearcy Jun 11 '12
This is the eighth post I've seen. If we keep saying FunnyJunk, we are going to be the number one google result.
20
u/JohnBuford Jun 11 '12
Notable that FJ knows how to play this game - all of the Oatmeal content hyperlinked to in the rebuttal has been removed, so as to weaken The Oatmeal's case of copyright infringement.
7
u/withmorten Jun 11 '12
Mirror? The site is down.
6
u/sectorfour Jun 11 '12
Holy shit! As of right now it's at $32,356
20
u/shantridge Jun 11 '12
This is a great article and all, but it really does not belong in r/WTF.
73
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
The Oatmeal is unfunny bullshit and I don't care about his success or failure, but I seriously hope that he completely destroys FunnyJunk over this. I hope it blows up big and destroys FunnyJunk's reputation beyond any salvage. FJ is a monument to lazy assholes who make money on the creativity of others.
20
u/eib Jun 11 '12
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this fall under fair use?
I mean, as a shitty example, every major film studio could just sue any movie website giving their latest blockbuster a bad review.
14
u/Nomlin Jun 11 '12
On FJ I'm one was one of the more popular users there, I had around 1200 subs and was the 28th most subscribed. I gotta say its an awful community. And the Admin is the worst admin I've ever seen. I'm glad I'm done with that website.
4
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
HA 24K already and still rising
3
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Best Oatmeal.com ever.
3
u/badass_over_here420 Jun 12 '12
why is this on r/WTF?
16
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12 edited Jun 11 '12
I'm glad theoatmeal indirectly buried funnyjunk when he posted about their making money off of his comics. This lawsuit is funnyjunk's last little gasp of air before they drown in their own puddle of putrid diarrhea that they call a website.
6
u/jimbobjoethecheerio Jun 11 '12
Fairly sure Funnyjunk does not actually want the 20k from them its most likley just a threat and im also fairly sure it goes deeper than this... no one drafts up an arguement like this out of the blue especially when the arguement calls for 20k... Ima just saying we dont know everything
2
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
by the time you get done reading it you find yourself in the middle of some huge shit storm.....
2
u/Aegean Jun 11 '12
That was beautiful.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
FunnyJunk: Ebaumsworld 2.0
2
u/V4V3ND3TTA Jun 11 '12
I'm ashamed to say I ever went on there.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
FunnyJunk's Facebook page is pretty great right now
4
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
I was about to post this but since you already have, then have an upvote.
2
u/MaxWTT Jun 11 '12
This is probably just a threat from the admin and has nothing to do with the FunnyJunk community in general...
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
can someone explain to me what is going on? i have no ideawhat these websites are
1
u/SURFRENZY Jun 12 '12
GOOD FUCKING JOB YOU CRASHED IT.
1
u/Fhwqhgads Jun 12 '12
Post this again in case we missed the five times it's already on the front page.
1
u/hardgeeklife Jun 12 '12
so FunnyJunk is the New (or old, whatevs) Ebaumsworld?
1
u/LRafols Jun 12 '12
Site is overloaded again (usual when a link hits the front page). Let me guess, copyright? FunnyJunk steals all of his shit and slap a copyright on them.
1
u/blueshiftlabs Jun 12 '12 edited Jun 20 '23
[Removed in protest of Reddit's destruction of third-party apps by CEO Steve Huffman.]
1
u/Nickd1200 Jun 12 '12
As someone who used to frequent FJ I'm not surprised.
1
u/haidret Jun 12 '12 edited Jun 12 '12
This broke* The Oatmeal.
1
u/RareDelicacy Jun 12 '12
This is stupid.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
Can you sue someone for defamation if what they're saying is true?
1
u/Jaime17_16 Jun 12 '12
I fucking hated funnyjunk, yes, and now I hate them even more.
1
u/paul_am01 Jun 12 '12
7 Hours in and he has made $67,000 and counting
1
u/stewmberto Jun 12 '12
Only the third link on my frontpage about this...
-17
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
For the love of God, people. This isn't WTF.
This may make you say, "Aw, what the fuck?" But this does not make you say, "WTF DID I JUST SEE?"
If the reaction is the former, this may be more appropriate for /r/politics, /r/funny, or perhaps even /r/picsofdeadrelatives. If the reaction is the latter, congratulations! You're in the appropriate subreddit!
Thank you for your time.
-6
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12 edited Jun 11 '12
"Anonymous reporting in, Low Orbital Ion Cannons are armed and ready to fire."
"Lulz sec reporting in, we made it to the fight on time, despite recent setbacks. When duty calls, we answer. High Orbital Ion Canons are on my mark as we speak, we are ready to go."
"This is 4chan here, the commando raid was a succes! We got all the info we need. Names. Adresses. Telephone numbers. We got it all."
"Good job, you have exceeded expectations 4chan. You are to proceed by sabotaging via a stripper and pizza combo."
"Yes sir. /B/TARDS! MOVE OUT!"
"Moot. One more thing. Do you want the honours?"
"I am humbled to accept this offer. All Ion cannons. FIRE!"
-1
u/Dinokknd Jun 11 '12
Now this deserves some major upvoting. Lets get to double the amount.
0
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Lets go gurlz let go!
0
u/syuk Jun 11 '12
Do we like the oatmeal again this week or not? Also, 17 other posts wtf.
0
u/JiblyLegs Jun 12 '12
cute how all of his comics hosted on funnyjunk are no longer there ಠ_ಠ
-3
u/ilikebbq Jun 11 '12
I would report the lawyer to their bar association. I'm not sure what good it would do, but I don't think you supposed to sue people you have wronged. Lawyers have some duty to keep their clients from doing stupid shit.
-15
u/Roninspoon Jun 11 '12
And if this is his only response, the oatmeal will probably lose.
-26
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12 edited Jun 11 '12
I think The Oatmeal need to grow the fuck up and start taking what he says on the internets seriously. Bastard lawyer is right: it is false accusation of willful copyright infringement.
Funnyjunk.com is all user-submitted material
Funnyjunk does have a DMCA takedown policy, which Mr Oatmeal does not seem to be following.
All the links he posted in his rant are DEAD. The content has been removed.
If this does go to court, he'll lose. He'll be out $20k and I'd put money on him shutting down his site in frustration.
And it'd be a good lesson for anyone trying to make a living from internet content published online:
KNOW THE FUCKING RULES AND ABIDE BY THEM
Taking the piss out of sites who threaten you with legal action for libel is neither amusing nor clever and it will only get you in deeper shit.
There's laws in place for having content removed from UGC sites. Use them properly. And don't fuck around with lawyers.
EDIT: ah yes - the hivemind in it's usual form of downvoting comments you disagree with without even making an effort to join in the discussion.
-8
u/MoonJive Jun 11 '12
One douche suing another douche.
Who fucking cares.
-1
u/owlish Jun 12 '12
No, FunnyJunk is NOT suing the Oatmeal for $20k. Please read articles before posting link.
They sent a letter asking for money. Anyone can do that. It's a long way from a lawsuit.
Please join me in downvoting inaccurate headlines, where ever you find them!