In only five days, the hotly debated bootleg fan film, "Power/Rangers", has been pulled from YouTube after a request from rights holder, Saban. Director Joseph Kahn was not happy about the decision, tweeting: Saban just pulled POWER/RANGERS off Youtube. Bad day for free speech, fair use, and Fandom in general.
Producer Adi Shankar was also expressed his disappointment, making a statement on Nerdcore Movement: "Today, I was deeply disappointed to learn that Saban Brands decided to attack my Power/Rangers “Bootleg Universe One-Shot” film. To all the viewers that enjoyed this film, I consider this an outright infringement on freedom of expression and individualism. I set out to make this film because I am a childhood fan of the Power Rangers.
As children our retinas are burned with iconic images and as we grow older these images come to represent crucial moments within the trajectories of our own lives. This film is a homage to the original creators of the Power Rangers, and a parody of a television series we all grew up loving.
Films like my Power/Rangers “Bootleg” are vital expressions of creativity in our troubled world. If we suppress this creativity and become passive participants in the consumption of the culture we live in, we implicitly allow a dangerous precedent to be set for the future of the internet."
Shankar went on to thank Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, whose social networking site is still allowing the film to be streamed. Deadline now reports that Shankar plans on fighting back against Saban.
“The general counsel for Saban called me yesterday and he didn’t send a cease and desist and they went directly to YouTube,” said Ashwant Akula Venkatram, Shankar’s attorney.
“It’s fair use and there are numerous fans films on YouTube. It’s a terrible precedent to set.”
The film, based on the beloved children's franchise, has been an internet sensation, garnering over 12 million views on YouTube during its stint on the site. The 14-minute short film has been circulating the internet since Monday, depicting a decidedly violent and mature spin on the franchise. The film stars Katee Sackhoff and James Van Der Beek, and was directed by Kahn (Detention) and produced by Shankar (Dredd, The Grey). Saban has not been supportive of this new take since the release, having previously pressured Vimeo into removing the film from their site. Saban and Lionsgate plan to release their own reboot in 2016.
If you'd like to talk more about the film, Kahn will be doing an AMA on Reddit today at 2 p.m.
What's your take on the film? Should it have been allowed to stay up?
About The Author:
Matt is a graduate of the Ryerson University School of Journalism, and has been a fan of superheroes since he picked up his first comic book issue as a child. While he works as a professional musician, Matt has a massive passion for comic books, films and heroes, along with participating in discussion and debate with the CBM community.