Liberal 'Comedy' Writer Gets Paranoid About Heritage Action Ad
Earlier this week an essay appeared on the Huffington Post which accused Heritage Action of plagiarism with regards to some Internet spots they are currently running starring Clint Howard. As the writer for the Heritage Action ads in question, let me address the charge of plagiarism directly. First of all, I can give you my word of honor as a gentleman* that until yesterday morning I had never seen or even heard of the SEIU ads I am accused of plagiarizing. I have heard of Lee Camp, as I peruse the Huffington Post regularly for joke premises, and I have even sampled a couple of Mr. Camp’s alleged comedy offerings. Not being a fan of his work, however, there would be no reason for me to seek out additional examples of it. I would be more than happy to undergo a polygraph examination to corroborate my claims of innocence on the condition that Mr. Camp undergo a polygraph test to corroborate his claims of being a comedy writer which I have been unable to document elsewhere.
Videos below the page break
The Heritage Action video:
Moreover, even if I had seen the SEIU ads, Mr. Camp’s claim that I plagiarized his work is preposterous. As any legitimate comedy writer knows-- no, as anyone who owns and operates a television set knows-- the boardroom “pitch meeting” featuring an ill-tempered, out-of-touch boss surrounded by yes-men and women alternately sucking up to him and pitching lame ideas, is one of advertising’s most durable, time-honored scenarios. [For a lengthier discussion of this phenomenon, click here. It is the joke-teller’s equivalent of “a priest, a rabbi, and a minister walk into a bar”**; the screenwriter’s equivalent of “boy meets girl”***. Saying I plagiarized his work is like saying thatE.R. plagiarized St. Elsewhere because they were both shows about hospitals.
After acknowledging that not a single word of his deathless prose was actually lifted from the SEIU ad (the usual definition of plagiarism), Mr. Camp claims that I copied the “mannerisms, style, and feel” of his piece. In the sense that both spots were shot with a hand-held camera and featured actors speaking to one another in English, I take his point. But if that’s Mr. Camp’s idea of plagiarism, I suggest he get himself a good lawyer because he’s got a lot of TV, movie and advertising writers to sue. He could start with this list of companies that have created humorous TV ad campaigns using the classic corporate boardroom pitch meeting as a premise:
- Air Tran Airways
- Tofutti
- Big Boy restaurants
- Oldsmobile
- General Electric
- Alka-Seltzer
- Burger King
- IBM
- Bud Light - including Super Bowl halftime ads
- Diet 7-Up
- Del Taco – many ads using this premise
- Fed Ex – literally dozens of classic, often award-winning TV ads since the 1980’s, many of which aired during Super Bowls
- Jack in the Box – dozens of such ads over the years
- Direct TV – current, featuring Ed Begley, Jr.
- Snapple – current, where the woman says, “We’re dating!” at the end.
This is, of course, just a partial list, and just of TV commercials. It doesn’t include the probably hundreds of sketches on Saturday Night Live and other TV shows since at least the Johnny Carson era (remember the Lowenboy beer ads?), and at least one scene every week from a current show Mr. Camp may have heard of called Mad Men.
I think we can all agree that accusing another writer (let’s just say for the sake of argument that Mr. Camp really is a writer) of plagiarism is a serious matter, and before doing so one should really have one’s facts straight. Clearly, Mr. Camp’s claims that I plagiarized his work have no merit. So in closing I say to you, Lee Camp, have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency? The world awaits your response.
* a figure of speech I occasionally use but did not, in fact, originate
** If Mr. Camp were actually a comedy writer he would know this.
***Full disclosure: I am currently working on a screenplay during which a boy meets a girl, a scenario my attorneys assure me is in the public domain.
Here's the SEIU video:
- Ned Rice's blog
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Comments
Sorry, but our bald guy is WAAAY funnier than theirs
Submitted by SickofLibs on Wed, 10/13/2010 - 5:11pm.
Stuff, it, SEIU.
They hate it when the joke's
Submitted by mattm on Wed, 10/13/2010 - 5:22pm.
They hate it when the joke's on them.
Or when they ARE the joke.
Submitted by samhermanmd on Wed, 10/13/2010 - 5:36pm.
Such fragile egos on the left yet they sermonize constantly about civility while displaying sociopathy. I could not reach for my prescription pad fast enough.
Here's Proof
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Wed, 10/13/2010 - 7:31pm.
I saw this on Megan Kelly's show yesterday.
http://www.youtube.com/user/RightWingHouseWife
Snap.
Submitted by kch50428 on Wed, 10/13/2010 - 5:27pm.
I would be more than happy to undergo a polygraph examination to corroborate my claims of innocence on the condition that Mr. Camp undergo a polygraph test to corroborate his claims of being a comedy writer which I have been unable to document elsewhere.
Love that line.
Hey, both ads feature men
Submitted by Jack Bauer on Wed, 10/13/2010 - 5:44pm.
Hey, both ads feature men wearing shirts.
Co-incidence? I think not!!
All of the above Mr Obama? --- How about ALL OF THE BELOW, instead.
Huffpo plagiarizes ....
Submitted by LibertyAtStake on Wed, 10/13/2010 - 8:27pm.
... Engels, Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot every day. Next.
http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/
"Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive"
Baseless Accusation…
Submitted by JPR1 on Wed, 10/13/2010 - 9:17pm.
seems to be a common tactic these days. Boy Barry has been engaging in this heavily. No question, desperation is the motive. Too bad, sooo sad.
I’m currently going through some common travail’s and struggles often experienced by modern humans, (though low on the list, figuring out this new web site is one of them.) and I have to say this piece has been a marvelous little break.
Thanks Mr Rice, I am, in fact, LMAO.
Not considered plagiarism if its satire
Submitted by ex buff e-dub on Wed, 10/13/2010 - 10:44pm.
Not every unauthorized taking of another's work constitutes plagiarism. Exceptions are made under copyright law for so-called fair use, as in the case of quoting a limited portion of a published work or mimicking it closely for purposes of Parody and satire. Furthermore, similarity alone is not proof of plagiarism. Courts recognize that similar creative inspiration may occur simultaneously in two or more people. In Hollywood, for example, where well-established conventions govern filmmaking, this conventionality often leads to similar work. As early as 1942, in O'Rourke v. RKO Radio Pictures, 44 F. Supp. 480, the Massachusetts District Court ruled against a screenwriter who alleged that a movie studio had stolen parts of his unproduced screenplay Girls' Reformatoryfor its film Condemned Women. The court noted that the similar plot details in both stories—prison riots, escapes, and love affairs between inmates and officials—might easily be coincidental
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