Flex and Frooms, Flex and Frooms.
This is the Flex and Frooms catch up podcast.
It's Flexing and it's rooms on Kata. It's time for a story time FLEXI. We were having a conversation earlier about how I was on the Internet from a very very early age. I would say, pre pre social media Internet. I was very much plugged in. I was on your funny junks. I was definitely participating in MSN culture, okay, showing my age. However, I also did get involved in some email chains on behalf of my cousin getting sent the World's Worst Willy in two thousand and three and
me saving it thinking it was a frog. No, sorry, she saved it into my folder of frog images.
I mean for me to open it and look at it.
It's my first one seeing a penis.
Did you know?
Could you identify?
Yeah?
It was an interesting introduction to that world. Okay, So in two thousand and six, this is when viral videos were like properly viral. There are a whole new category of media and one of the really popular ones was man going viral for a BBC interview with this guy.
Can we pause for a second, how old were you in two thousand and six, ten, eleven, eleven. I know this is incredible stuff. I was telling for hims earlier. When I was eleven, I was just reading books. And I don't really think I got into the Internet properly until sixteen.
Really.
Yeah, I mean I had it, but I don't think I was. And it was social media that I had. I don't think I was like engaging in any other Internet things. I wasn't googling or like foruming or anything you were in it.
I was. I was early adopted.
I don't think I read a book until I was in high school and had to read for like I had.
To say, slow you down the way you are now.
It's true, I actually do like reading now.
Anyway, I had to come to it like a horse to water.
Did you see that?
Yeah? What the religious popped off? Yeah?
I saw that anyway, And I'm not going to address it.
You people are sick.
Okay.
So two thousand and six, there is a guy called Guy Gomer and he was accidentally interviewed the BBC. He came in for an interview for an IT position. They've mistaken him for somebody else and put him on a classic moment. He was saying for another guy called guy anyway, so that's kind of I get it anyway.
I was like, is that a racism thing? But it's just the same name thing.
What are the odds?
Precisely anyway, he was on a podcast series called Accidental Celebrities where he spoke about the experience. I'm gonna play a little bit of the clip. It's kind of something that you need footage for. So if you're on tet Visual, yeah, type in BBC Accidental Interview and then I'll just play.
Some days to see to come on me, because I wasn't expecting that. When I came as they told me something else and you got He's a big surprise anyway, A big.
Surprise, yes, yeah, with regards to the cost that's involved. Do you think now more people will be downloading online?
Actually, if you can go everywhere, even I see lots of people downloading.
Okay, he's actually eating.
So what we're seeing is this guy sitting in like a classic news production set up being interviewed. So he's gone to the BBC for an actual job interview, a position, and they've mistaken him for the expert they were meant to interview on tech related issues exactly what are the odds?
And honestly he takes it very well, like you can see the confusion on his face. So what the BBC has done in the seventeen years since has used this footage as part of like Bloopers Real again and again and again. And this man is saying, I want some royalties for this. I want to see the BBC and they didn't answer him. Yeah, savagery so up mixed on our podcast, guys, I want to talk about what does the internet or what do rather broadcasters actually owe people
when they reuse their image im perpetuity. We know that there's some like legalities around.
I mean, I think we should say the Internet broadly. I feel like the individual distribution of people's images usually goes a lot further than a broadcaster. I mean, I have images in my meme folder that I've curated for years of random people's faces on the Internet. I'm distributing as we speak.
Yes, so this man's wants to sue the BABA say whether or not he will actually go through with them. Whether or not he will actually go through with it, I'm unsure. However, it made me think more broadly about the Internet and these people's images who use in perpetuity in this very small part of their life. Like I always think of a little boy that Eastbidy's putting your story, Gavin, Is that the guy?
Wait? What is he doing? Gavin?
And Gavin's like eleven now, and what's he doing living life like an eleven year old would? But he's big in China.
I think we're talking about someone else. The boy I'm talking about is a little boy who's got the headphones on and he's like screen because the song's really Oh, Jay, he's a producer.
Wait, so you know all the names of these people. I'm serious.
Yeah, that's Jay. He's a producer. And at the time, so he started doing meme content because he's just a kid on the internet. But then he got really really famous for making memes, and then a couple of years ago he was like.
I'm really serious about this music shit, as.
All people on the internet say they are. But he's produced songs for Scissor like.
Big Okay, WHOA.
So who's the other kid you were talking about, Gavin?
I'll show you.
So my favorite meme person that is in perpetuity is the little boy in the in the in the monkey. Oh my god, yeah, the little redhead kid. Okay, Gavin, I fully am across. Yeah, does he Is he happy with that image being out there? I'm not sure, but he's going viral in China where that child is so cute.
Love him.
I understand the vision.
So my favorite little boy in a meme is the boy in the monkey suit in Apple And he's like he's sitting and he's like, he's like, stay, do you guys know this?
It's a boy if you have the reference, yeah, yea, yeah, yeah, bring the reference.
Okay, So it's a little boy. And I'm sure there's like.
At least six thousand people who'd be like, I know exactly what rooms is talking about. Okay, there's a boy in the Apple store.
Monkey boy at Apple Store.
I've never seen this.
You are too deep for the Internet. I don't even know what side this is. Crawl out from little monkey and Apple Store. It is just like.
So essentially, I often think about these people, Like sometimes I because I like putting the facial pictures on my Instagram, But then I think I'll do the people actually want it because it's them. That's why I like AI.
Yeah, the Internet is such a lawless place. So it's like literally in its infancy, it's it's a sperm going into an egg as we speak, and it's yet to like just state to incubate what it's meant to do, the thing it's meant to become. I think we're so many years and years and years away from it that anything we say it should be now, we're going to
contradict tomorrow. For example, I remember we were having a conversation maybe a year ago now, referencing meme pages filming real people, like real local people, and creating jokes about them, especially when they're not being presented in a positive light. And it's not to say that we should make exceptions like if I'm just showing this girl's a really cute outfit, I should be allowed to share that, versus if I'm showing this girl vomiting on the side of the road.
But either way, we were discussing how it felt funny, it didn't feel right, but none of us had the jurisdiction to say anything about it or to do anything about it. It's just a byproduct of being on the internet. I think it's trickier when it comes to corporations because it's very clear how they make their money, where they make them money, and what agenda they're pushing when they use your likeness, especially for free. And this term of perpetuity,
I mean, I'm a nark. I mean in any brand or client or corporation, there's I'm really annoying to work with because I will not let you have my likeness for more than a couple months, of course, but brands will stay putting perpetuity in. I'm fighting with the brand right now because in their head, they're kind of like the height of fame, the height of celebrity is being assigned so closely with the corporation because of that brand,
almost like that brand filtering. That happens. You get a bit of their clout, they get a bit bit of your cloud. It's great, but usually what happens that you're getting a flat fee and they're monetizing on you forever and ever whatever. In the case of this guy who you know was being put in a weird situation and seventeen years later, they're still using his likeness, I think the tricky thing is going to find is that how can you really assign a value to what's happening here?
And I think they might argue that we filmed it. You have consented to it by virtue of being in our studio and sitting in front of the camera. We own that footage. Yes, you might be able to sue us for using your likeness, but for what in particular?
What will you usue us for? Exactly? Because we can't take it back?
Yeah, it's kind of done. And can we retrospectively find every time we've used your image and every time someone else has used your image? And are we saying every time we the BBC directly reposted it, or the reach of how far and wide it's spread because we posted it. It's really really tricky. The Internet really really confuses me. I don't know what the rules are. Copyright is so how clear it is, it's also such a gray area
as well. Do you remember that instance where Rihanna was doing a meet and greet with fans and journalists and things like that, and there was this one journalist who was wearing a T shirt with her.
Image on it.
She said, oh, where'd you get that? And he was like top Shop. She was like top Shop? You got that from top Shop? He was like yeah. Rihanna goes on to sue top Shop for using her likeness without permission. Naturally, but a business like top Shop, how do you not know that culture kings locally get sued all the time for using you know, they got sued by Mike Tyson recently for using his likeness on a T shirt without permission.
I get it because it's weird, because it gets to what my celebrities feel like their fair game, Like they're so famous that you couldn't even reach them if you wanted to, and they couldn't reach you. How do you know what I'm doing in a random nowhere making a shirt and selling it for a couple of bucks.
But poor Yoko owner and John Lennon When I bought a really cute dress that was tied ie with their face saying stop more, and I wore it to high school parties and.
I thought, where is the love? Where is it?
Where it's not to be found? I mean, good luck with that king. I hope someone takes that case pro bono and you win, but I doubt you will.
Oh dear, it really does really quickly. It is crazy to think that we are in the prehistoric times of the internet.
Happen were before the Neolithic before cavemen were just those isopods that they're gonna fight twenty five million years later.
It's pretty crazy. Well, you're with flexing fromes.
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