eBaum's World (subtitled "Media for the Masses") is a popular website featuring entertainment media such as videos, Flash cartoons and web games. It is highly controversial for many reasons, primarily due to claims that nearly all of the website's content is taken from other sources without permission and then rebranded with eBaum's World logo. The site, which is owned by Rochester, New York native Eric Bauman, ranks in the top 500 [1] sites on the Internet according to Alexa.
Features
The site features individual celebrity soundboards, where users can press buttons to hear notable words or phrases spoken by that celebrity. By pressing certain buttons in a certain order, users can simulate the celebrities saying unusual things. In this way, the soundboards are commonly used to prank phone call unsuspecting members of the general public. These calls are often recorded and subsequently re-submitted to the site. The site also offers a section called "Forum Fun", a set of multi-purpose images designed to be posted on forums.
There are also games and animations as well as a chatroom and a store which sells eBaum merchandise. Since the site receives many emails suggesting content to add, there is a section called "Moron Mail" for submissions that do not meet Bauman's standards. eBaum's World has a very large forum community, with thousands of members and over one million posts. In the forum there are areas to post pictures, videos, and high scores from games. Every Friday, Bauman selects some of the forum content for display on the site's main page.
Controversy
eBaum's World has garnered significant controversy over the years due to numerous instances of content being taken from other sites, such as YTMND and Something Awful, without permission. The site's favicon is taken from Peanut Butter Jelly Time and also used without permission. Other notable complainants include Viacom, [2], 20th Century Fox, and Sega.
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. [3] However, this is contested by content creators. In particular, web artist and animator Weebl (of Badger Badger Badger fame) had his animations removed from eBaum's World during January 2006, but it took more than a year of requesting that it be done. [4] Bauman formerly claimed to have been working with Weebl [5], though Weebl's statements ("Nothing on the planet would get me to work with him (Bauman) unless it involved saving a burning child from an aids filled orphanage" and "Eric Bauman is a liar whose business model is based on stealing the work of others in order to get content for pages he can advertise on") run contrary to Bauman's. [6]
The "submission page" itself is controversial. It does not require the submission of any information that could be considered uniquely identifying of original authorship. [7] Examples of such proof would be source files (such as Photoshop .psd files, or Flash .fla files with their original layers and edit history intact).
Critics assert that the language of the upload agreement casts significant doubt on the ability of users submitting content to meet all criteria. Notably,
I hereby represent that I have obtained copies of release and consent forms from all individuals portrayed and performing in the Material which would allow me to grant to eBaum all rights set forth herein.
An example of material for which the above is doubtful is the Tiger Woods movie. [8]
In the past, Internet users claiming to be employees of eBaum's World have made spurious arguments regarding copyright law. [9]
The video "Laserfart," created for the Channel101 website, remains in the eBaum's World video section despite requests from the owner for its immediate removal. [10] This is notable because the video attracts a high volume of user hits, which translate into Internet advertisement revenue for eBaum's World.
Additionally, the credits that were originally part of the video were cut out of the eBaum's World version and replaced by an eBaum's World watermark at the bottom of the video. A search for "ipecac" on Google Video shows two videos: one from stileproject.com, and a "rewatermarked" version removing any mention of stileproject.com and replacing it with credits for ebaumsworld.com [11] (notice the clipping of the ebaumsworld.com version). This is an example of the "rebranding" commonly practiced by eBaum's World. In the past, the watermark simply read "ebaumsworld.com." The watermark has since been changed to "hosted on ebaumsworld.com", likely due to pressure from Bauman's critics.
Similarly, a rebranded version of a commercial for the Pursuit Force video game is hosted on eBaum's World as well. [12] All indications that the clip was created for a commercial product have been removed. Critics argue that this practice is intended to mislead visitors into thinking that the content they are viewing is an original creation of eBaum's World.
As of mid-January, 2006 Eric Bauman has discontinued his practice of proudly posting cease-and-desist letters on his "Legal" page, though they can still be found at web.archive.org. Links remained on eBaum's GI Joe page until February of the same year. [13]
A parody web site, eBaumsWorldSucks.com (subtitled "Media for Dumbasses"), has been set up by Neil Cicierega, Shawn (ALTF4) and Abi Rendon (LegalCondom who is a former contract employee of Eric, he wrote the eLinks and eNews sections of his website.) in order to document the ongoing controversy between content creators and eBaum's World. The site hosts a page containing statements from content creators whose works appear on eBaum's World without permission. The site also details several cases in which eBaum's World has leeched bandwidth and launched denial of service attacks on other sites.
TV show
On January 24, 2006, USA Network struck a deal with the Fox Television Studios to create a show based on eBaum's World. It is being eyed as a late-night companion special to air with WWE Monday Night Raw. It will feature clips from the website as well as new, exclusive content, and interviews with past and new eBaum's World employees. The show is being executive produced by Simon Andreae through his production company, The Incubator, in association with Fox Television Studios. The cease and desist letters described above, including one from Fox Television Stations [14], were removed from the site around the time the deal was announced.
Trivia
- The website was started as a prank in Bauman's junior year of high school.
- In 2005, Bauman had gained enough money from his website to sponsor a professional boxer. He has also purchased an $850,000 office building and a $150,000 home.
- The URLs http://www.newgrounds.com, http://www.albinoblacksheep.com, and http://somaforum.com are censored from the eBaum's World Forums.
- In January 2006, Drew Curtis removed the eBaum's World link from Fark's list of "Site Friends". Worth1000 replaced its eBaum's World link with eBaum's World Sucks.com.
External links
- eBaum's World
- eBaum's World Sucks.com - Features both an anti-Ebaum's cartoon and a detailed list of creators with grievances against Ebaum's.