Why is #Justiceforspongebob Trending On Twitter?

#Justiceforspongebob started trending on  Twitter on 2nd May, and naturally, it evoked curiosity as to why?

Spongebob Square pants is an American animated series that broadcasts on Nickelodeon. Late Stephen Hillenburg, a marine science lecturer, and animator, developed this cartoon series for Nickelodeon. A team of 400+ animators, voice artists, producers, composers, and voice actors from around the world came together and created a Spongebob Rehydrated movie in the memory of Stephen Hillenburg. After 2 years of hard work, the movie was launched on YouTube, only to be flagged as copyright content at its premiere.

In this article, we will dig into the copyright claim, its validity, ways you can avoid such claims on your channel, and also how you can still watch the Spongebob Rehydrated movie, which has got stellar reviews from fans who flocked to Newsground to watch it after it got removed from YouTube.

Everything You Need To Know About The Viral #Justiceforspongebob Hashtag

If you are an inquisitive soul like me, you would have tapped on #justiceforspongebob when you saw it on Twitter (#trending5). The unique and curiosity-invoking hashtag was an ingenious idea by the fans that brought the spotlight on Paramounts’ copyright claim over a non-commercial fan creation on YouTube. While the validity of the claim is still debatable as the creators are claiming that the audio and the music used in the movie are created by them, in the court of Twitter, fans have declared Paramount an opportunistic and imperialist organization. With the debate on fair use and copyright, and parody laws glaring on Twitter, let’s understand the situation a little better to avoid hopping on the bandwagon and decide who is at fault here?

Fans Create a Spongebob Movie

After 2 years of hard work, the Spongebob Rehydrated team uploaded the movie on YouTube. At the beginning of the video, a disclaimer says, “This is a re-creation of an existing film whose rights belong to Viacom.” In the disclaimer, the creators have mentioned the movie is strictly not for profit and is simply a tribute to the creator of Spongebob Squarepants, Stephen Hillenburg. It is also mentioned that this creation falls under the parody law.

YouTube Takes Down the Video Amidst The Premiere

After just 30 minutes of the video being uploaded, YouTube removes the video from the platform. The channel receives an audio copyright claim from Paramount stating that 40 minutes of the video uses the audio from the show whose rights belong to the giant.

Creators Dispute Over Copyright Audio Claim

The Spongebob Rehydrated creators are fighting against the copyright claim. They have been upfront about the project being non-profit and completely original. From the audio to the music composition, the team is claiming that they have not used any of the copyrighted content. Original audio and composition are used in the movies. Anyone who has watched the movie can tell you that clearly, but sadly none of the Paramount team members have, as they took down 2 years of their fans’ hard work just like that!

Fans get #Justiceforspongebob on the Twitter Trending List.

Fumed by the sequence of events that took place after the video was taken down by YouTube, fans and the 400+ members of the team took to Twitter. And within hours, the #Justiceforspongebob started trending on Twitter. The official Spongebob Rehydrated account got a whopping 20K followers within hours, and the meme pages joined in soon after.

A slew of memes targeting Paramount started getting traction on the platform.

With over 10K tweets, #Justiceforsongebob was ranking in 5th position in the trending list on Twitter.

What Is The Difference Between Copyright and Parody Law?

While the concept of fair use is not easy to understand, especially in the copyright issue, it’s important to understand what it entails to get a clear idea of what is going on here.

Fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to remark on, critique, or parody a copyrighted work in its broadest sense. Without the authorization of the copyright owner, such uses are permissible. To put it another way, fair use is a defense against a copyright infringement lawsuit. Your use would not be regarded as an infringement if it qualified as fair use.

The following factors must be considered when determining whether the use of the copyrighted work is indeed fair use:

(1) The purpose and character of the use, including whether it is for commercial or nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) The nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) The amount and largeness of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work.

(4) The effects of the use on the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

What is the Parody law?

A parody is “a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule.” Parodies are protected from copyright law. I won’t get into the whole legal art of the matter as it is confusing and mostly deals in the grey area.

But what I can do is offer my opinion based on my understanding of the matter.

Spongebob is Nickelodeon’s highest-rated series and Paramount Consumer Products’ most successful franchise, producing over $13 billion in merchandising revenue. (2019 data) The copyright law is one of the main pillars behind that behemoth revenue. Naturally, Paramount doesn’t want to risk any dispute or sharing of the profit that the Spongebob brand has the power to still generate. While that might be under the umbrella of their rights, creating a movie with original audio and content for a non-profit objective is not unlawful either. If ‘Spongebob Rehydrated’ is used for commercial purposes or starts making money, then Paramount can object, but it’s a simple act of love and tribute by fans for their favorite creator and animated series. It doesn’t deserve to be punished!

Where Can You Watch The Spongebob Rehydrated Movie?

Although YouTube removed the video from its platform, the Spongebob Rehydrated team uploaded the movie in 2 parts on Newsgrounds.com.

You can also watch the movie on YouTube but not on the official channel yet. An animator who has contributed to the movie has uploaded part 1 of the Spongebob movie on his channel. If you are wondering whether this will provoke another copyright war, then hold your horses because the story is not just about fair use and legal drama; it’s also about love, dedication, art, and most importantly, collaboration. A group of creative minds came together because of their shared love for a cute little sponge that filled our childhood with positivity and laughter.

Conclusion

Now that you are all caught up with the drama on Twitter and YouTube around #justiceforspongebob watch the Spongebob Rehydrated movie and let the team know your review on Twitter. The team has already suffered a lot; your positive feedback and support will help lift their spirits and fill them with renewed vigor to fight the copyright claim from Paramount. So until the verdict is out and the movie is back on YouTube, watch the SpongeBob movie on Newsgrounds.com. And for more updates on Twitter’s trending topics like Is Twitter going Private after Elon Musk bought it, check out our Twitter guides.  

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Deshna Jain:
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