The Hamilton Ave Journal 01.12.08: Volume 1 – Issue 16

Let us take these one at a time.

First, the UFC working with the WWE is odd more so because of TNA and Spike’s relationship with the UFC, not because of the use of the footage. Lesner is most known for his wrestling career and there is Japanese footage of him available. That said, the WWE owns most of the footage and was going nothing with it. Although in the WWE’s original case against Lesner they stated that they had invested in the Brock Lesner name and character and that is why he was not allowed to do many sport and sport related activities in the USA before their settlement.

The use of that footage, though, does not substantially harm the WWE in any way and they may as well make a small stipend from it. As noted in the Journal before, the WWE has moving many of their revenue drivers in to use of past footage, taking a much higher percentage of sales (and especially profits) from this than in the past. This is just another example of the WWE finding another revenue steam for existing material they own.

Now, as for Ice Cube’s music video; the Journal has reviewed the video and found that there were two instances involving Chris Benoit. The two appeared back-to-back with the first being a 1.5 second clip of Benoit fighting Chris Jericho and a 1 second clip of Benoit standing in the ring. Although the line posted above makes it seem as if these were news footage items (of which there is a “fair use” clause to use copyrighted material), these clips were direct lifts from the WWE.

That said, the WWE most likely had nothing to do with this video of the use of this video. According to the same “Fair Use” clause above:

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Looking at the third and forth item, it can be seen how Ice Cube used this in his video. The amount used (2.5 seconds overall) falls well below the level considered “substantial” for most media (about 5 seconds) and the effects on the market value for the footage of Chris Benoit have definitely not changed.

The WWE should not be lambasted for the use of Chris Benoit footage and profiting off it. That said, the company owns plenty of Benoit footage and will have to sell it as part of other DVD and compilation packages in the future as Benoit is a major part of ECW, WCW, and WWE history.

New Lawsuit Against WWE

Sometime in the past two weeks, Memphis Wrestling promoter Corey Maclin filed a lawsuit against the WWE for engaging in monopolistic activities and violating anti-trust laws. This past summer, Hulk Hogan and Jerry Lawler were going to have a match in the FexEx Forum run by Mr. Maclin, but the WWE pulled Jerry Lawler from the event citing that Lawler’s announcer contract would not allow him to appear on VH1, which was taping for Hogan Knows Best.

Lawler himself has not been claimed as a defendant in the case, but Maclin alleges that the WWE and specifically WWE Chairman Vince McMahon intentionally tried to harm his competing organization because of the then chilly relationship between McMahon and Hogan. Additionally, Maclin claims that “McMahon pressured other WWE-connected wrestlers to avoid Maclin-promoted matches in the Memphis area. The result, according to the lawsuit, was that Maclin lost a contract to do weekly wrestling promotions at Sam’s Town casino in Tunica”, according to the Memphis Daily News.

Furthermore, the lawsuit goes on to say that these actions were “taken because of a long-running feud with Hogan and in an effort to continue its extensive market control of the wrestling market by not allowing Maclin, a competing promoter, to have a successful and popular promotion.”

Frankly, the Journal is surprised that is has taken this long to have an anti-trust lawsuit brought against the WWE. When the WWE acquired its only major competitor in WCW and later that same year bought the holdings of ECW in bankruptcy court (or rather was award the assets of ECW due to outstanding loans ECW had with the WWE), the entire process was never challenged once by Congressional committees dedicated to stopping monopolies. Take that in comparison with the proposed merger between XM and Sirius where hearings and stalling have been going on since it was officially announced on February 19, 2007. The WWE completely owned WCW in a matter of four days.

The wrestling industry as a whole has severely shrunk since then and the WWE has continued to buy the history of wrestling through video packages owned by independent promoters and brands they were never affiliated with (World Class Championship Wrestling, Stamped Wrestling, Championship Wresting from Georgia, etc…).

Although TNA has somehow grown in this market, and ROH has grown into the largest of the independents, it is hard not see the WWE has a near-monopoly that tries to control the market. Just look at some of these actions:

All of these sounds like activities of a company engaging in monopolistic behavior, trying to control the market, limiting competition through coercion, and more would be doing. Should Mr. Maclin win his case, it opens the WWE up to a lot of other lawsuits as this case can be used as a reference point.

It may be a year or more before there is any significant movement in this case, but it is the most serious brought against the WWE in some time.

MARKETPLACE

In the Marketplace we look at the trends in television ratings. This section is less for critical analysis by the Journal but more for the reader to see what is really going on and to draw their own conclusions.

* SmackDown! ratings may include fast overnight if final ratings are not posted. Also, SmackDown! ratings are for the prior week as overnights are not available before this article goes to print.

ECW
Close (This Week’s Rating): 1.2
Open (Last Week’s Rating): 1.2
Percentage Change: UNCH
52-Week High: 2.3
52-Week Low: 0.6
All Time High: 2.3
All Time Low: 0.6

TNA iMPACT**
Close (This Week’s Rating): 1.1
Open (Last Week’s Rating): 1.1
Percentage Change: UNCH
52-Week High: 1.2
52-Week Low: 0.6
All Time High: 1.2
All Time Low: 0.6

** TNA iMPACT’s are for the prior week as ratings may not be available at the time of the Journal’s posting

Analysis:
While TNA continues it’s plateau of 1.1, there are some interesting things going on in the WWE. It is easy to note that ECW has found a new running average in the 1.2 range (a space iMPACT is looking to overtake), but RAW and SmackDown! are slowly switching places. After the couple of off-weeks, SmackDown! again took a small gain in viewers back to 2.9, a level they have not held consistently since early 2006. Meanwhile, RAW slipped again only rebounding to a 3.2. As with this week last year, RAW went up against the BSC Championship game, which also saw a decline of viewership. It appears as if there is either an overall lowering of viewers to television, viewers are spread out to more programs, or a combination of both affecting ratings across the board. Still, given there are more network viewers than cable, SmackDown! actually had a larger number of viewers than RAW for the forth of fifth time in the past year.

MONEY AND INVESTING

We all know that wrestling is a business, but we don’t often pay attention to what sells and makes money. Money and Investing looks into the top selling items in the world of wrestling and any interesting figures that may have come out this week.

PERSONAL JOURNAL

Wrestling isn’t just about watching and reading. The best way to be a wrestling fan is to experience it live. Where is wrestling coming to in the next 2 weeks? The Personal Journal answers that question.

EDITORIALS

The Editorials section is designed for you, the readers, to respond to the views presented in the Journal, send an important news item, or talk about another overlooked business related item in wrestling. Just beware: the Journal reserves the right to respond back.