Intellectual Property Law

"There's a storm gathering." A minute-long TV spot by a group called the National Organization for Marriage is already spawning YouTube parodies of its grave, Terminator-esque warning about gay marriage destroying the American Way of Life.

But for sheer hilarity, no parody can match the audition tapes for the ad, in which a series of no-name actors stand in front of a green screen and mostly botch lines like "the clouds are dark and the winds are strong" and "I'm a California doctor who must choose between my faith and my job."

The audition videos, uncovered by the Human Rights Campaign, seem too good to be true. But NOM has helpfully authenticated them by sending DMCA notices to YouTube to get them pulled down. Vimeo.com hosted the banned videos for a while, but now also appears to have folded like an umbrella. 

So internet rebels are reportedly saving the videos with keepvid.com, and then uploading them back to YouTube when they're pulled. Washington City Paper is keeping up with the YouTube roulette.