House of Cosbys vs. Crazy Cosby

[ChiaCheese]

I don't know what's right but with the cos throwing threats around i wouldn't be too surprised.

[ChiaCheese]

and just because, here's the other 2 classic "crazy cosby" sayings that the aol news thing was rotating.




edit: there might have been some slight modifications made

[crankfarm]

Before we talk about "what's legal" and "what we can get away with," shouldn't we talk about "what's right?"

I just saw this as us finding out that Bill Cosby doesn't like House of Cosbys. Where do you guys file that information?

Well, Dan, I would file that information under "tough shit". Is Channel 101 going to pull Yacht Rock because John Oates doesn't think it isn't funny? Are you going to pull Shitcock if Christopher Reeves' widow finds it offensive? Maybe SNL should run scripts by all the celebrities they skewer - to make sure their not offended. C'mon man, this isn't a moral issue. It's about a humorless ex-funnyman throwing a sack of money at some lawyers and intimidating a group of talented artists into willingly forsaking their right to free speech.

[David Wong]

Okay, set all talk of lawsuits aside for a moment.

How far does an artist have to go to make sure none of his art offends? And how much moral responsibility does he have to take down his art when the object of the art complains? Doesn't the artist have more of a responsibility to the audience than to the object? Again, I'm not saying Comic Sacrifice "owes" the audience an expensive lawsuit. We're not talking lawsuits right now. In a world where there are no lawsuits, morally don't the creators have more responsibility to the people consuming their art than to Mr. Cosby?

And conversely, can Cosby say he rose to where he is without skewering famous people? I'm not saying he was an insult comic, but HOC wasn't insult comedy, either. No, by Cosby's new rule, ANY mention of a famous person should be forbidden if they don't "like" it... and if that were true, there would be no comedy. No jokes about the Church if the Church says they don't like it. No jokes about President Bush if Bush says he doesn't like it. No jokes about scientologists or Tom Cruise if either one complain. Can Cosby really believe that?

I mean, I can understand a politician doing this, I can see Newt Gingrich threatening lawsuit over House of Gingriches. But this is another comic, somebody who, at one time, understood what comedy was and what it was for. And for him to raise hell over HOC seem so hypocritical that I don't know how far you are supposed to go in sympathizing with him.

This wasn't a series depicting Cosby as a pedophile and a cannibal. It wasn't even profiting from his name, or using his name in such a way as to harm anything else Cosby is trying to do in his career. As a comic, I'd think the only legitimate beef he could have (morally) would be if he thought all the Cosby-sounding voices in the cartoon gave the impression that he was voicing it and that he was thus somehow involved. I understand having a moral objection to that because every creative person wants it clear which projects are his and which are not. But a simple disclaimer could have taken care of that.

[PolkaKing]

Here is the problem with these kinds of lawsuits: Right or wrong don't factor into them. Neither does logic, fair play, or creative license.

Sometimes there comes a point for lawyers who are retained by companies or people with the extra cash to create their own usefulness by crushing anything that might be deemed offensive to the person or brand, or seen as possible copyright infringement.

Cosby has been under fire lately, and his lawyers are likely under orders to squash anything that might be bad for the Cos's image. So these guys go out with both guns blazing all the time to protect their boss's credibility and positive public image. LucasFilm does the same thing and I believe Scotch company (makers of Scotch Tape, among many others) recently went after a dry cleaners owned by the Scotch family for like 80 years. And the corporation won.

If the good Dr. saw HOC, he may not like it, but I doubt he out to get Channel 101 and destroy creativity. I'm sure 101 can go on with it's special brand of tribute, pardy and satire without fear. Yacht Rock will be fine.

[mack]

Hey, has anyone even considered the fact that Bill Cosby may not have ever even SEEN House of Cosbys? He probably just has a lawyer (or even a team of lawyers) who just sit around all day "protecting" the Coz's interests... I think it is very likely that Bill Cosby doesn't even know about this. That's why he has this lawyer... To insulate himself from this stuff... He just goes about his business and his lawyer makes sure all this stuff gets taken care of. Thoughts?

[eduardo]

What's really unfortunate, like others have said, is how common this sort of thing is becoming in our culture, and, worse yet, how much we are willing to accept it as "just the ways things are." On one level, this is just a guy trying to protect his image. But it goes much deeper than that. Cosby didn't send a "please remove this thing that offends me as a courtesy" letter, he sent a legally-baseless cease and desist. This is a perfect example of the rich and powerful abusing our legal system to control the culture. I'm sure his lawyer is an Intellectual Property expert, and he knows, all other things being equal, that if he took the case to court, he could not win. But he also knows the defendants would run out of money long before Cosby would. So, if Bill Cosby decides our culture would be better without embarassing depictions of him, he can wave a wand and make it so. These wands are waved every day, and each time we sit back and let it happen, our culture suffers. And each time it happens without a fight, it becomes more acceptable. Making fun of Cosby doesn't necessarily enrich the national dialogue tremendously, but each time this happens, we get closer to the day when it seems acceptable for Newt Gingrich, or Rupert Murdock, or George W. Bush to wave the wand for themselves. Everyone can see the harm in that, but by the time we get there, the precedent has been established.

That being said, if I were the one on the receiving end of such a letter, I'm fairly certain that I would also remove the offending content without a fight. Such a small victory, even if victory were possible, would make little difference, unless every unjustified cease and desist could be fought. And most people won't fight them. They're like me. Before they can see this as a mass war to determine who can control culture, they have to see the personal costs, hassles, and dangers of taking on the rich and powerful.

[EventSpire]

It's not a lawsuit yet. It's Cosby being a dick. What can he sue you on? Slander? For Dancing Cosby?
Or the fact that Bill Cosby clones fight crime and save the world?
This is Cosby saying "my balls aren't rasins yet".
A victory is a victory.

[David Wong]

Hey, has anyone even considered the fact that Bill Cosby may not have ever even SEEN House of Cosbys? He probably just has a lawyer (or even a team of lawyers) who just sit around all day "protecting" the Coz's interests...

I for one didn't think of that and you're totally right. I'm assuming he has a room full of people who act any time his name and face looks like they're being used by somebody without permission, and it probably never rises to the level of The Cos himself. The hypocrisy I'm ascribing to Cosby most probably is just the product of a faceless Intellectual Property machine.

[Matt]

What are you doing channel101? Don't you know that Bill Cosby Suing you is the best thing that could happen to you. It is the best advertising you can get. Think about the exposure CJ, the evening news, People and other magazines, tabloids, internet sites with the story. All sorts of free advertising! So please ignore the cease and desist order because Cosby has no case. His law suit will get laughed out of the court. If anything by him suing you it will be bad pr on him not you. For you it's the best advertising you can get. Remember the band 2 live crew? They were unknown until they were sued. Not to mention many other cases. This is your ticket to fame, ride on it!

[transparent]

Sorry CJ got cancelled.

[jewishcarpenter]

I don't see why people can't just deal with the fact HOC is no more. Why doesn't everyone just look forward to the shit Comic Sacrifice is going to make in the future. I think it will only get better. Keep up the good work gentlemen.

[David Robbins]

I'm with you carpenter, while HOC story closure would be nice, comicsacrifice has a history of churning out some great great stuff, I've recently re-discovered Twisselton and The Tiger, the Wizzard, and the Suitcase (after not giving twisselton a fair chance the first time around). I really enjoyed documentary the series. And yeah, HOC was great fun too. But we have every reason to expect something new and exciting that will be even better, because it will blow our minds in some unexpected way, and make us feel like we did when we watched HOC for the first time.

Again- thanks for everything Comic Sacrifice, and I'm sorry life dealt you such a shitty hand recently

[ZombieHipHopHex]

I don't see why people can't just deal with the fact HOC is no more. Why doesn't everyone just look forward to the shit Comic Sacrifice is going to make in the future. I think it will only get better. Keep up the good work gentlemen.

Don't worry, they'll get there. They're just not there yet. People seem to be in the "bitch about something that bugs them" phase, after they get tired of that, acceptance is the only possible option. It's normal to want to vent when this sort of thing happens.

Yeah, it sucks, and it bugs me... But I'm really looking forward to the next Comic Sacrifice project. Heck yeah.

[Roiland]

this all makes me dizzy