Viral Irony is Spelled MTV

I just love the irony surrounding the “behind the scenes” viral video mockumentary in last week’s MTV Movie Awards, which featured Jack Black, Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. trying to catch lightning in a bottle with a viral video for their upcoming movie (ya know, “because it’s all about the internet now”). It’s a solid bit of comedy, valuable promotion for the movie and in many ways true to life. Okay, there’s the setup… and, “Action!”:

• The video works, and with the initial awareness from the show (not to mention star power) begins to take on new life as, you guessed it, a legitimate viral video (so meta!). People laugh, tell their friends, and pass it along until [cue the music]…

• Viacom steps in and issues takedown notices for all instances of the video on YouTube, their courtroom counterpart (the record of which remains forever in the shallow graves of MIT’s YouTomb)… but the video lives on elsewhere (those sites that don’t claim 50.4% of the online video market).

• Meanwhile, the YouTube account behind the infringing upload is “suspended”.
  Roll the credits!

Now, I’m not undermining Viacom’s right to defend their copyrighted material, and it’s entirely possible that their enforcement team has no choice but to keep racking up the “infringements” in advance of their case against Google; but if we can separate ourselves from the legal and business issues for just a brief moment: isn’t it ironic?

[Note: Please remember that there is a permanent ban against using Alanis Morissette lyrics in the comments!] [via Beyond Madison Avenue]