Did you see the dark, gritty, R-rated Power Rangers short film that took the web by storm yesterday? Instead of the colorful, kung-fu action children have been watching for more than two decades, this fan-film took Power Rangers to a post-apocalyptic future filled with blood, gore and foul language.
The video has more than seven million views on YouTube and counting. People love it. But with that success also comes some unwanted attention, namely from the legal department of Saban, the creators and owners of Power Rangers. Turns out they aren't a fan of people using their property in ways not originally intended, and have sought to take the short-film offline.
While the video can still be found on YouTube (and watched below), the film has since been taken off of Vimeo after being featured as a "Staff Pick."
The director of the project, Joseph Kahn, says Saban has been attempting to get the project brought down.
Saban is trying to shut POWER/RANGERS down. If you'd like to keep watching, tell them to stop harassing me https://t.co/Gb3KfwMbAX
— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) February 24, 2015
Vimeo has since released a statement revolving around the video's removal from the service, saying it was due to Saban making a copyright claim.
"Like all major video platforms, Vimeo complies with the Digital Millenium Copyright Act ("DMCA")....In this case, the company that owns the Power Rangers copyright feels that POWER/RANGERS infringes on their intellectual property," the statement reads. "The video creator feels that the video is covered by Fair Use based on the fact that it is non-commercial and satirical. We agree that an argument for fair use can be made, but the DMCA law does not give content hosts (like Vimeo) permission to disregard a takedown notice simply because of the presence of one or more fair use factors. This is a legal matter between the copyright holder and the video creator."
Kahn insists that his work falls under fair use, as he isn't making any money off the project and that there is no actual footage from the television show in the video.
2. @vimeo Every image in POWER/RANGERS is original footage. Nothing was pre-existing. There is no copyrighted footage in the short. — Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) February 24, 2015
He has filed a DMCA counter-notification, so it's possible the video could later return to Vimeo. Saban could also decide to back-off as well. After all, more than seven million views in not even 48 hours for a Power Rangers fan-film definitely seems like good PR.
The video remains on YouTube for the time being. According to TMZ, the producer of the project says he will keep the video on YouTube until he receives a cease and desist. In the meantime, it will continue to pile up views, all while Saban makes itself look like a villain for trying to shut down a fan's passion project.
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