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Dear Naked Bike Riders: Quit whining
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
Dear Naked Bike Riders: Quit whining
It's no secret that this newspaper has promoted the Philly Naked Bike Ride about as vigorously as anyone; members of our staff (though not me, and you're welcome) have been naked bikers, and from an editorial perspective, we've been about as pro-bike as you can possibly be. And I stand by all of that. Every word. Bikes are great and marvelous things, for recreation, for transportation, for exercise. Byko's anti-bike old-man prattling is idiotic, and embarrassing for a major urban newspaper to publish. Et cetera.
That said, while we stand behind your right to bike naked or clothed, whenever and wherever you see fit (within reason, of course), the legal action that Clifford Greer is pushing against a crew that videotaped naked riders at this year's event rubs us (or at least me) the wrong way. First, the e-mail he sent to the PBNR list, then an explanation:
First, keep checking your email for our official count and thank you emails. Before that, we have some unfortunate news to report, and we need your help.
During assembly at Lemon Hill, a video production company called WAPtv (Wild About Philly) shot footage of a number of riders. As far as we know, no one was filmed without permission. WAPtv has produced and is selling a DVD of their footage.
We have seen this DVD and we feel that its content is not in the spirit of our event, and that the riders filmed were not informed that this video would be for sale publicly.
We have sought out volunteer legal assistance in order to halt the sale of this video. The next step for us is to identify those amongst you who are willing to pursue this on an individual basis. If you know you were recorded by WAPtv and do not wish to have your image distributed commercially, please reply to this email with your contact information and full name, include your telephone number please.
Someone from the PNBR team will contact you via telephone and discuss the details. If you are unsure that you were filmed, or were not filmed, please do not respond to this email, we may be able to use your help, but we are going to start with riders who were filmed by WAPtv and may be included in the DVD for sale.
Do not reply to this message seeking comment from PNBR on this issue, or for any information regarding WAPtv or the above mentioned video.
Thank you,
Clifford
PNBR
Let's assume, for the sake of argument — and as I haven't seen the aforementioned DVD, I'm not making this assumption — that WAPtv's doc is exactly as scummy as Greer makes it out to be. Maybe worse. Let's say they secretly video'd scores of naked riders, and will now use that footage in a porno superimposed with humping midgets and sorority-girl bukkake and Asian massage parlor rub-and-tugs (does that get you excited, PW?) and whatever other skeazy shit you can think of.
This would be entirely terrible and extremely unethical, and the people who put it together should be shunned and receive a torrent of letters and nasty e-mails informing them of their shadiness. It would not — at least based on my understanding of the law — be in any way illegal. Nor, quite frankly, should it be.
See, when you enter a public space, you abrogate your right to privacy; doesn't matter if you are naked or clothed. I have every right to film, video, sketch, or watercolor you and publish this in any way I see fit, no matter how nefarious my motives. Same rules apply if, for instance, I want to sell a video of some tourist busting ass on the sidewalk, not that I would do such a thing (well, maybe I would). I don't need your permission, and I can even do it over your specific objection. And it sure as shit doesn't matter if you don't think whatever I produce is âin the spiritâ of your event. Last year, CP photog Neal Santos created a slideshow of the PBNR; there are already lots of pics from this year's event circulating the Web — and yes, some with full frontal. These are by their very nature public events, you don't need permission to document them in any way you see fit, whether the organizers and participants like it or not.
That, friends, is the beauty of the First Amendment.
Simple rule, folks: If you don't want to be photographed naked, don't go into public naked. Sorry.
Isn't it spelled "skeezy"? Just wondering.
Totally disagree, mr.bitter, self righteous, blogger. Go to the Wild About Philly website. Any naked bike rider complaining about pervs with cameras, or finding themselves on youtube are foolish. Agreed on that. There are consequences to being naked in public. I was in the ride and pretty much every asshole in the city with a camera was taping it. Doesn't really bother me. Yes, I'm sure there are plenty of people secretly wacking to this stuff (although I don't understand how). But that's hugely different. And if anyone is wacking to me in the privacy of their own home. Hell, I'm flattered. Just don't stalk me. However, even though I haven't seen the DVD, I have been to their website, and it's a Ghettoized bastardization of Girls Gone Wild. I 100% do believe naked bike riders have a right to be pissed if assholes are mis-contextualizing and selling their image as pornography. In this day and age, it's nearly impossible to avoid being broadcast on the nets in social media etc. Sexting anyone? But there are still laws against making a profit off of someone's image without direct consent. And Clifford is being diplomatic here. I saw the crew and they were taping every pair of titties hanging out without having people sign wavers. Documentary crews need to get release forms, any filmmaker looking to create a commercial product needs release forms. From what I saw, these guys weren't getting any. The line being drawn on is the fact that they're SELLING these DVDs.
"Asian massage parlor rub-and-tugs (does that get you excited, PW?)" (aren't they your advertisers?)
Thank you! This is what I said the day after the ride. Seriously, don't be naked in public if you don't want to be photographed or taped while being naked in public.
While I agree people have a right to take picture and video of me since I got naked and rode my bike around Philadelphia, I have a problem with someone making money off of some slimy video they took of me without my consent. As far as I'm aware, no one has the legal right to sell my image without my consent, and this piece of trash got no one's consent. Frankly, it's people like this, that show up to the event fully clothed, slowly walking around with a video camera pointed directly at girl's breasts, that tarnish the fun and goal of the event. It's not that WAPtv didn't have a right to take a video, but they certainly have no right to sell that video for profit. I'm sure PNBR is only looking out for the people involved in the event, as the law has clearly been broken in this instance.
"Asian massage parlor rub-and-tugs (does that get you excited, PW?)": Can't speak for PW but does it get you excited CP? Must be since you collect ad revenue from these illegal businesses which really engage in slavery. Ask any ICE officer. You have a whole page of them, even from the one where the body was found yesterday. Nice.
[...] I told you about Clifford Greer's missive to the PBNR e-mail list, threatening legal action against a company that, he says, is trying to sell DVDs of PBNR [...]
[...] of a DVD of the event they don't like. A lawyer tells WHYY they don't have much of a case. Which is what I argued earlier this [...]
To Annie and to Anonymous, You both did not even see the DVD. Those guys were not from Wild About Philly. Do Talk about what you don't know about. Wild About Philly gave out cards and got consent from everyone they taped. And got the consent on tape. Which is legal. You both are talking about someone else. At least take a look at the short clip first.
I am a host/producer of WIld About Philly and would like to say first and foremost that the director has "on camera" evidence of permission from everyone he taped agreeing to use their image. We have been around for a decade airing on Comcast ON demand, WYBE, Phillycam, as well as many other local cable outlets. We understand and do respect the rights of the public and would not use any footage of anyone who "did not agree" to be taped for any DVD etc... Quite frankly, that is enough said! However, I would also like to clear up that we are an accredited TV show and not some ghetto/porn site as everyone is making us out to be. I am a woman who strongly stands for the rights of women and I would not support a show if they were doing anything that I knew to be degrading. TIC PRODUCTIONS always has permission from any women or person taped and they are all more than willing to do whatever it is that they do for "attention" so there is nothing "illegal" about that. Yes, the production company also sells exclusive and uncut footage on the side since that's what people want to buy, but that is actually a separate division of TIC Productions and not in direct affiliation with WILD ABOUT PHILLY TV SHOW. I would like to inform the public, for those who don't already know, that WILD ABOUT PHILLY TV SHOW is entertainment TV about a variety of "cultured and artistic" events that goes on in and around the city. We cover a variety of things from music of all genres, to car shows, fashion shows, tattoo conventions, art workshops, and anything else in good taste that you can think of to put Philly on the map. So, with that being said, we are NOT a ghetto porn site!! That is why we wanted to support PNBR, not in a "pornographic light" at all, but as an artistic expression of one's views, which is exactly what WILD ABOUT PHILLY is all about and has been about for the past decade. Sorry, that you misperceived the website to directly reflect on our show something that it is actually not, but that was your misperception and misunderstanding. We are an openly diverse show not geared towards one ethnicity, so just because the creator of the show is black and you saw some black booties for an uncut dvd (that btw, is "separate" from WILD ABOUT PHILLY TV SHOW) does not mean that we were going to reflect your "cause" in that manner. It's unfortunate that PNBR seems to be OPEN enough to hold a naked bike race, but not open enough in the mind to see past certain prejudices and take advantage of an opportunity to collaborate with an "artistic" show that wanted to support their cause and give them free publicity in a tasteful way. So, maybe we should now seek legal assistance for SLANDER, which is not appreciated! THANK YOU to the CITY PAPER for not taking part in this SLANDER!! Thank you PNBR for your publicity:) DON'T FORGET TO WATCH WILD ABOUT PHILLY EVERY THURSDAY NITE AT 10:30 on COMCAST 66/966 AND VERIZON 29/30...Phillycam.org (www.waptvshow.com, wildaboutphilly on facebook, melissadoroba on facebook) THANK YOU!!
I am a host/producer of WIld About Philly and would like to say first and foremost that the director has "on camera" evidence of permission from everyone he taped agreeing to use their image. We have been around for a decade airing on Comcast ON demand, WYBE, Phillycam, as well as many other local cable outlets. We understand and do respect the rights of the public and would not use any footage of anyone who "did not agree" to be taped for any DVD etc... Quite frankly, that is enough said! However, I would also like to clear up that we are an accredited TV show and not some ghetto/porn site as everyone is making us out to be. I am a woman who strongly stands for the rights of women and I would not support a show if they were doing anything that I knew to be degrading. TIC PRODUCTIONS always has permission from any women or person taped and they are all more than willing to do whatever it is that they do for "attention" so there is nothing "illegal" about that. Yes, the production company also sells exclusive and uncut footage on the side since that's what people want to buy, but that is actually a separate division of TIC Productions and not in direct affiliation with WILD ABOUT PHILLY TV SHOW. I would like to inform the public, for those who don't already know, that WILD ABOUT PHILLY TV SHOW is entertainment TV about a variety of "cultured and artistic" events that goes on in and around the city. We cover a variety of things from music of all genres, to car shows, fashion shows, tattoo conventions, art workshops, and anything else in good taste that you can think of to put Philly on the map. So, with that being said, we are NOT a ghetto porn site!! That is why we wanted to support PNBR, not in a "pornographic light" at all, but as an artistic expression of one's views, which is exactly what WILD ABOUT PHILLY is all about and has been about for the past decade. Sorry, that you misperceived the website to directly reflect on our show something that it is actually not, but that was your misperception and misunderstanding. We are an openly diverse show not geared towards one ethnicity, so just because the creator of the show is black and you saw some black booties for an uncut dvd (that btw, is "separate" from WILD ABOUT PHILLY TV SHOW) does not mean that we were going to reflect your "cause" in that manner. It's unfortunate that PNBR seems to be OPEN enough to hold a naked bike race, but not open enough in the mind to see past certain prejudices and take advantage of an opportunity to collaborate with an "artistic" show that wanted to support their cause and give them free publicity in a tasteful way. So, maybe we should now seek legal assistance for SLANDER, which is not appreciated! THANK YOU to the CITY PAPER for not taking part in this SLANDER!! Thank you PNBR for your publicity:) DON'T FORGET TO WATCH WILD ABOUT PHILLY EVERY THURSDAY NITE AT 10:30 on COMCAST 66/966 AND VERIZON 29/30...Phillycam.org (www.waptvshow.com, wildaboutphilly on facebook, melissadoroba on facebook) THANK YOU!! ~Melissa
[...] following comes from a person who appeared in that Wild About Philly preview YouTube clip of their controversial DVD (below) of this year's Philly Naked Bike Ride (we discussed this in more detail [...]
Ya'll play nice. Or bring it to the forum here http://www.eroticmp.info
Since I have known about Wild About Philly they have been about disrespecting and degrading women. You can not expect a company of this type or magnitude to know what is it to be disrespected if that is what they are all about. I have checked out any and every thing about Wild About Philly. Nothing but a bunch of non-sense prettied up but still nothing but whore. Whores as hosts, whores as fake producers and whore getting paid to be whores. You can not expect anything from a company like this other than what they are. It is true, many like Wild About Philly but only because it is a young crowd that again has no respect for women and think it is all good to degrade women. The expectations of what this show represents is not very high which is why they have made it for a "decade". Wild About Philly is a trashy ghetto version of what Jerry Springer is right now.
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