CEASE AND DESIST FROM JONATHAN FRID/2010 FEST DVDS DISCONTINUED

[Midnite]

Frid is not the only DS actor who objects to the sale of his personal image and performances.  Others gripe too, but they may be unwilling to rock the boat, and they probably don't have others around them who are willing to take on the issue as Nancy did for years as JF's producer, or have a handler during DS events over the past few years who happens to be a copyright attorney.

I'm sorry for what Joe experienced, but I think Nancy's suggestion that Frid be contacted through his site in advance of appearances sounds excellent.  You can't rely on the Festivals to anticipate what he won't want sold.

[David]

I think Nancy's idea is good too.
Leave no stone unturned.

[Midnite]

I have a gut feeling that the attorney is egging this on--the attorney wants to make money too--I don't think Joe's videos are on Frid's personal radar.
Maybe we could all contact the attorney & say that Joe is providing a valuable service to fans who can't make the fests--some due to finances, some due to health problems.

Surely some kind of agreement could be reached.

David, my personal belief (only!) about the situation is this:  I'm guessing that the attorney did not make money, JF probably knows about the videos, and I doubt the issue is negotiable.  But that's me.

[David]

You may be right, Midnite. And that's sad.
I'm in fairly close contact with a fan who cannot attend Fests because she's a disabled shut in. She'd love to see Joe's videos and now can't.
)-:

[ClaudeNorth]

From posts shared here long ago, I recall that the ratings were pretty healthy during the Laura Collins Phoenix story and on into the run-up to the introduction of Barnabas.

I've wondered about this, too.  After all, the series of paperbacks started before Barnabas and Frid hit the scene.  I cannot imagine any publisher being interested in launching a line of books based on a failing television series.  I suspect that the show's ratings history has been embellished over the years for dramatic effect.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

(The ratings history of the show has certainly been mythologized and outright misrepresented in many articles over the years, from saying it wasn't until after Barnabas' appearance that the show was renewed (when it had already been renewed during the Laura storyline) to saying the show was canceled because of poor ratings (when in fact the ratings were not only still quite acceptable, they were actually higher than they had been during Barn's first year). But then, what have we said about writers not checking their facts and simply rehashing what they've come across from less than reliable sources?    And. of course, the myth that's often still perpetuated to this day is so much more dramatic than the truth so, despite being untrue, it has its appeal...)

[David]

 
I think the day I started watching tipped the scales in the show's favor!

[Miranda]

I also agree that Nancy's suggestion is an excellent one, too, in case Jonathan decides to go to any future fests.  I myself have been so glad to see happenings at the Fests I have had to miss, like JF's handprint ceremony at the Vista theatre (though I could have done without the accompanying guitar soundtrack, LOL!!)

[B.Collins]

if he's having stuff sold like that without his permission, his performances ok than i can kinda see him get to a point where he said enough is enough. his lawyer is prolly the one who egged him on. but than i of course have no proof of that. i do agree that you should have just e-mailed him on his website ahead of time. but than how are you suppose to know he would react the way that he did?


anyways, i thought about your dillemma & oh sorry about my bad spelling. he he. anyways about who would monitor them?
well i didn't come up with an answer on that. but i did just think about this, if you were to make only like 200 for example & sell them to fans, on this site most likely. or to your friends as well. than maybe that would work? maybe suggest that?

& maybe have someone close to you who you trust keep track on who pays you & so on? or something like that.
anyways, really the rating were good in the Phoenix storyline were on? so my guess is that it really happened like this, rating wise i mean, when JF entered the show, he didn't save it as the media & everywhere promotes it. he gave it

international fame & the show i think did become a bigger hit. but ratings wise it took awhile before fans started tuning in.

i didn't know they had already been renewed when JF had been hired to do the show!  & as for the decline my guess the reason people stopped watching was prolly when the film came out it was a horror film. & parents reaction was so fierce
& everything else that kids who were unable to get away with it were forced  to stop watching the show. at least that's

my guess. it DOES amaze me though that out of all the soaps that were on back than, the ONLY one who still has every single episode with the exception of one episode is DS.  the other shows when they taped them just taped over the previous days if i'm not mistaken. & didn't start saving them until either the 70's or the early 80's. i'm also surprised that

no other show has put out sets of their own for sale. starting with the the 1st episode that's around & not as best of dvd's or blue rays. & DS is the ONLY one so far who has done this. such as "Passions" since that entire show is avalible

you would think that they'd start with episode 1-40 to whatever the last episode was. ya know? anyways sorry about my rambling i'm half asleep. also how many people from the show are members here anyways? i didn't know that JF was a member.

[Ben]

Although stars and non-stars might not be able to object to being photographed in public places (like outside the Vista Theater), the issue here concerns any person's right of publicity and privacy when his or her image is used for profit.  Here's a link to a primer on some law in this area:
http://www.publicdomainsherpa.com/rights-of-publicity-and-privacy.html.

When others are selling your image without your knowledge or permission, you have no control over where your image may end up, nor are you compensated for such use.  As a practical matter, however, some stars could decide that asserting and enforcing their publicity and privacy rights isn't worth the ire of their fans, so they simply (though not happily) look the other way.  The publicity generated by the illegal sales may even be viewed as free publicity for stars who crave it but are no longer in the limelight. 

Also, aren't the stars who participate in the fests compensated for their appearances by getting a percentage of the gate?  If so, from a purely cold business standpoint, every sale of a video of a fest arguably means one lost ticket sale to that fest -- and, consequently, less compensation for the participating star.  Thus, some stars will fight for every dime due them.  Obviously, some fans could not have attended anyway due to health or financial reasons and would love a video copy, but the law tends not to favor them.  As Midnite says, one could ask JF for advance permission, but it is doubtful he would give it.  And even if he would consider giving it, the contract the videographer would have to sign would likely be on terms very favorable to the star and strict against the videographer (I'm straining not to say "draconian").    I suspect that if it even got this far, lawyers would be involved on both sides of the negotiations, and the videographer under consideration would no longer be an individual but rather a corporation like MPI.

Ben

[joe integlia]

i still have not seen an explanation of how paparazzi can sell images and video of celebrities out in public to tabloids etc. i cant see them getting releases signed or asking permission from the stars they photograph/videotape.

[B.Collins]

well man, my guess is nobody here known an explanation on that one. i agree with ya man, it's understanding if someone's image is being sold without their permission. since the peeps you mentioned get paid for taking celebs pics.

i've NEVER understood this either Joe. & celebs want permission & a piece of the commission as well. i can't the photgraphers

or however ya spell that? i just LOVE it when celebs just snap & hit them!  but one thing i think is respectful though is Jon Bon Jovi who is the ONLY celeb that i know of who has this deal with them. where they can take as many pictures of him they want, but the deal is, no pics of his kids. i read this in an interview a couple years back that he did for "USA Today" & i was & am frankly STUNNED that they actually agree with his wishes ya know?

honestly when it comes to celebs i don't really need or care to know their EVERY SINGLE movement. wheather they are in the limelight anymore or not. or is this just me?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

or is this just me?

It's definitely not just you. I used to watch shows like Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood all the time - though that was back when their main focus was reporting actual entertainment news (i.e. long segments about upcoming movies, TV shows, etc. - for example, ET ran some great segments about the '91 DS series). But I haven't watched either in years - not since they've become almost exclusively tabloid TV. Nowadays just catching glimpses of the nightly promos is bad enough. And it's truly sad to realize just how low each show has sunk! (And it's sad to think how their coverage of the upcoming Depp/DS film will most likely be nothing like the attention ET gave the '91 series because today things like the latest Paris Hilton/Lindsay Lohan/etc. scandal gets the lion's share of coverage.  )

[michael c]

let me just ask this...

is this whole incident something of a tempest in a teapot?

realistically is there a market of more than a hundred or so people for a video of this event?

[joe integlia]

absolutely not. only a handful of people purchase the festival videos from me.