Jay Leno ripped me off

I've gotten some good emails in my day, and last week I received one of the all-time best: Sean O'Rourke, a research coordinator for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno reached out to me for permission to show my Taylor Swift Is Surprised video during an upcoming sit-down interview with the pop star. "Duh! Squee! Duuuuuh!" I said (not really, but I did go, "HA!" in a quiet gym locker room when I initially read it off my Blackberry). Sean assured me I and/or my blog would get credit. Duh squared, that wasn't even a concern. How silly I become when I'm excited! In my response, I stressed how important it was for my friend Kate Spencer (who came up with the idea for the video in the first place) to be credited, too. Kate and me/fourfour and The Fab Life/both attributions -- however they wanted to do it, I asked that they somehow mention us both. Sean warned me that he couldn't promise any specific mention from Jay, but at the very least, our names would appear in the show's credits -- at least our names would be down somewhere. Great! Since Jay Leno tends toward the diabolical, I wasn't going to get my hopes up that he'd actually say my name on air. I didn't even know if they'd end up showing it at all. Sean and I went back and forth a few times about getting him the highest-resolution video possible (a tall order, as my video was a compressed compilation of already compressed source material, since so much of it came from YouTube).

Fast forward to last night:

 

Taylor's on his couch and he talks to her about winning awards (this is where the clip above begins). After (unconvincingly, I think) explaining that she refrains from being presumptuous while sitting in the audience of awards shows, Jay tells her, "We put together a little montage of you being surprised." What follows are four clips that appeared in my supercut, clearly cut from HD sources (they're 16x9 and look infinitely clearer than what I used) but put together in the same order that they are in my video (clips that originally appeared between the first and the second of the reel shown on The Tonight Show were removed, but the second through fourth appear in the exact succession with almost the same rhythm as my original video). And that's it. Taylor (after letting out a wonderfully appropriate, surprised, "Oh!" right before Jay rolled the clip) explained herself without a shred of irony or a seeming understanding of how silly all the instances of gaping mouth come off: "It's so exciting! I never thought I was gonna be at awards shows and nominated, and then you win them. It's just like, 'What?!' It's always fun!" The interview continued, so did the show. At its end, there were no credits in sight.

What surprised me the most wasn't so much that Kate and I weren't mentioned, but that the video wasn't credited as having originated on the Internet. This is not an obscure work -- it's racked up over 200,000 views in a week! I thought at the very least, he'd give and indication of this thing's preexistence so that his viewers could hunt it down if they were so inclined. That was, apparently, expecting too much.

This post is to reclaim due credit -- that is one very tangible function of this blog that I appreciate very much. As with my NPR/cell-phone supercut feud, I am grateful that I don't have to stand by and watch when someone's going to be so rude as to swipe something I worked on just because it was made for the Internet. Newsflash to the mainstream media: just like you have actual human beings making you work, so does the Internet! A little respect for the people providing your content would be nice! I understand that ownership is a dubious concept these days, and that I'm claiming ownership of a series of clips that I never owned in the first place, but an idea is an idea. They're so hard to come by and so, so valuable.

But really, the way all this went down is almost as good as if we'd been credited: a chance for righteous indignation is a gift, and I did get to see Taylor Swift's reaction to my video of her reactions, which is deliciously meta and very satisfying in its own right. Her seeming inability to see the humor in her behavior makes me feel like Kate's and my point is even more resounding. She is naive and lacking in self-awareness, it turns out without surprise. What is Jay's excuse?

Update: I heard from Sean, who chalks the matter up to the chain of communcation and says that this isn't the first time that a non-Jay Leno creation has been credited as such. Go figure. Credits throw TK, perhaps.

Update 2: Justice is served!

Or whatever! Frankly, it was served immediately via the overwhelming support everywhere I turned yesterday. I wasn't even that mad! I feel like people got mad for me. That was nice. I highly recommend getting ripped off (provided that you have a blog where you can tattle about the misdeed). Yesterday was amazing (the Times Arts Beat piece was a highlight), so much so that I passed out before I could catch the credits (thanks to Dave Itzkoff and Matt Cherette for catching this for me). Lots of fun, everyone. Let's do it again soon. (Or not!)

Comments

[nene]

go rich :D i was appalled at mr. leno's stupidity. like no one would notice that a video seen all around was not the product of the "brilliant" minds at the tonight show! i'm so happy you and ms. kate spencer got the credit you deserve <3

[Momo]

"It should be said that Sean O'Rourke used to work where I'm currently employed and was fired for plagiarizing. And now he works for Jay. Go figure."

HILARIOUS!

[Matt B.]

you're famous!! one of these days i'm going to try to visit and won't be able to get through because of all the traffic!

[bleh]

Funny how if a person creates media on the internet using mainstream sources /material your stuff gets yanked or slammed with the threat of litigation.

But when the wholly lift your work its no biggie to give credit where its due.

[bleh]

Funny how if a person creates media on the internet using mainstream sources /material your stuff gets yanked or slammed with the threat of litigation.

But when the wholly lift your work its no biggie to give credit where its due.

[Selah]

I bet all that brought more traffic and readers to your blog!

Not that I'm happy you got ripped off....I don't know where I'm going with this. I'm just glad you did finally get your due credit (and Kate Spencer too).

[Anonymous]

I was about to storm Jay Leno's FB page until I saw the second update.

[Dita]

Jay is known for ripping off other peoples bits and material. The bit he used to do of his mouth and chin upside down and acting like a body builder was stolen from a sports caster in a city he visited. A lot of great comedians have used jokes they didn't write but they hired, paid, and helped their ghost writers. Jay Leno is a hack who has never had an original thought in his head. I'm surprised they called you first. This must be some silly backup thing they do now. They probably hoped you wouldn't have the support to back you up.

[zoe]

http://creativecommons.org/

creative commons licenses are free! they let you share your works with others but retain attribution. so in the future jay leno will be required by law to give you credit for your ideas.

[Rhonda Murrey]

Jay has no original material - he has to steal from others... Taylor Swift is young, and she has put herself out there with a lot of guts. I'm sure there is a bit of truth to the comment she made about not being pretentious... she seems to be handling it as well as should be expected of someone her age.

[jbean]

this is fucking awesome...so glad when i read it you already had the updates on here...you never cease to amaze and intrigue me, and more often than not you inspire me to do research on things i would otherwise never have known about living in EASTERN GODDAMN KENTUCKY. thanks rich. very cool.

[st2dione]

Heard about your situation on Howard Stern just now - Leno sucks!!!!

[Your Mother]

check it!http://www.fancast.com/blogs/2010/tv-news/jay-leno-steals-bit-forced-to-give-credit/

Also, this is my very favorite comment on the article, it's just so SPECIAL!:

"Wow I wonder how Jay Leno has made it for so many years and oh yeah the number 1 talk show if he lacks any talent and humor. How do all these people know that Howard Stern didn’t steal some of Jay’s jokes. Now Stern is a vulgar joke!! Somehow all some people can think about is tying everything in to politics(of course that is all the liberals who blame everything on Bush, Palin or any Republican, but wait that is what the liberals and Democrats do. I forgot. Get over it and judge someone on what they actually do and not because of political views. If I did that I wouldn’t watch tv at all because most shows are very liberal based. Way to hang in there Jay!!!"

[Ritch]

Jay steals from Howard Stern all the time..get used to it

[alldawayjay]

Taylor Swift is such a little cock tease. I cant stand that little bitch. "OH SHES SO GREAT. HER MUSIC IS LIKE A YOUNG GIRLS DIARY!!!" How do these young ass kids think that they are in love and have experienced so much in their life. Its bullshit. Her and Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber dont know shit about life and "love". Love to them just equals dollar signs. They're all fake fucking sheep.

[sloghog]

i never watch that piece of shit leno anyway

[WTF]

Hold on. Did you give credit to the producers/networks whose videos you used to make "your" montage?

Seems really funny that you'd want credit for pasting together others peoples videos, I didn't know one could copyright the effort of pasting. And your "idea" for putting together a few clips lifted from youtube is hardly a new and novel concept.

What in the biscuits is wrong with people these days...sheesh...

[WC]

Howard Stern was talking about this incident today! Jay Leno is a talentless hack.

Heart you, Rich/FourFour!

[huhwhat]

That Leno continues to be a class act, huh? Nice that the Times to put him on blast!

[Mons]

Jay has been stealing from Howard Stern for years.

[Japan_photo]

Howard Stern always said Leno steals his bits, makes total sense now. They cared enough not to forget to show your video and take all credit for it. Too funny, hope he's off the air soon.

[Matt]

lol, crying because you don't get credit for making a video. Did you invent the computer program that allowed you to "create" this video? Did you give the inventor and software company credit? Did you thank the inventor of the internet for allowing you to share to the world your creation?

Get real, and grow up.

[viagra online]

I played this game often, but for me, our creativity never stretched past trying to figure out what animal we would be. I'm still un-decided on the matter.

[Rabbie]

To be fair- Taylor Swift surprise face was done, albeit in a different medium, 11 months ago.

http://jezebel.com/5461650/taylor-swift-shocked-to-win-award-for-best-surprisedface/

[Sebastian]

I'm glad you got your credit in the end. Even if it was the smallest, most insignificant lower-third credit possible, it was still acknowledgment and that matters!