9/11 conspiracy movie taken off the web

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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/05/911_documentary_removed/

 

9/11 conspiracy movie taken off the web

By Jan Libbenga

 

Published Monday 5th June 2006 16:57 GMT

 

Two French filmmakers, who accompanied New York firefighters into the

World Trade Centre on 9/11, are threatening to sue the makers of 9/11

conspiracy web documentary Loose Change (http://www.loosechange911.com/),

claiming the movie infringes their copyright.

 

Loose Change, one of the top downloads on Google Video and YouTube, is

an 81 minute long documentary, crammed with TV news footage and still

photographs, which alleges that the 9/11 attacks were not the result of

terrorism,

but a series of cleverly executed events carried out by the Bush

administration.

It suggests that American Airlines Flight 77 could not have crashed into

the Pentagon, that the actual collapses of WTC 1, 2 and 7 were triggered

by explosions, and that United Airlines Flight 93 did not terminate in

rural Pennsylvania, but landed safely at Cleveland Hopkins Airport.

 

Loose Change began as a fictional story about 9/11 conspiracy theories,

but when film maker Dylan Avery, who is in his early twenties, started

researching, he became a believer himself. Edited on a $1,500 Compaq

laptop, using Adobe Premiere and After Effects, the movie was released

on DVD first,

then unleashed on the web. Since then, more than two million people have

downloaded the movie. Until recently, it was still available on a DVD

for $17.95. Avery says that over 50,000 copies have been sold. A heavily

edited version is still intended for cinema screening at the fifth

anniversary of 9/11 in September 2006.

 

Although praised by 9/11 conspiracists, the documentary has also been

widely criticised. Mark Roberts, who compiled the Loose Change Viewer

Guide (http://www.ccdominoes.com/lc/LooseChangeGuide.html),

says he counted 81 " errors of fact and instances of conjecture not

supported by evidence, logical fallacies, uses of images that do not

support the conclusions being drawn, and other flubs " .

 

It is a copyright dispute that is currently causing problems for the

Loose Change makers right now though.

 

In a certified letter (http://www.loosechange911.com/main_naudet.html)

sent to Dylan Avery, lawyers for Jules and Gedeon Naudet, makers of the

renowned documentary 9/11 - The Filmmakers' Commemorative Edition

(http://www.videolibrarian.com/cgi-bin/GetKey.pl?KEY=14764),

say they have never endorsed nor sponsored the controversial views in

the film. The brothers captured what is thought to be the only footage

of the first plane hitting the North tower

 

" It is clear that your intent is not to spread a controversial message

but rather to profit, " the lawyers conclude. They have identified at

least 14 videofragments, including interviews with firemen. The Naudet

Brothers, backed by distributor Paramount, are demanding $150,000 for

each act of willful infringement.

 

Although Avery has removed the movie from his site, and says " he fully

cooperates with the Naudet brothers " , he still encourages viewing the

movie on Google Video (http://video.google.com/).

 

But maybe not for long. Google says it only accepts video uploads from

persons who hold all necessary rights to the uploaded material.

 

" Our policy is to respond to any notices of alleged infringement that

comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), " the company

says. " If we receive a notice or otherwise have reason to believe that

content you submitted infringes another party's copyright, your account

may be terminated and the video removed from Google Video. "

 

A spokesman for Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz confirmed the firm was

handling a case for the Naudets, but refused to comment further. ®

 

© Copyright 2006