lulz the check is in the mail.



might this be better?

Caramelldansen - Random Series

It's not so much that I'm offended as that I feel personally responsible for any humiliation that could come to this kid or his family from having video taken of him spergin' out at one of my tournaments end up on the internet.

Edit: Also, while it's my personal opinion that any video of this kid has no place on the internet, I never requested it be taken down, just that it not be "meme-ified" (the original post referring to this was deleted by the user) and that people think before they say things like "he's not autistic, he just wants attention."  You have the right to do whatever you want just as much as I have the right to think that what you want to do is dumb.

well said, laura.  

I'd like to note that, ethical/moral discussion aside, this video falls into a very strange legal gray area.

Even in a public venue, people not defined as public figures (celebrities, politicians, etc) and granted a right to some privacy and ownership of their image and must give permission to have their image intentionally captured via photograph or video recording.  Since we're talking about a child, that means permission from a parent/guardian; since we're talking about someone confirmed to be disabled by a parent/guardian, that means permission from a parent/guardian.

Stores and restaurants which use security cameras will have a sign by the entrance notifying you of such since they would be violating your rights to not do so - that sign acts as implicit permission when you enter the store.

In practice this means that posting a video "of the tournament" where this kid happens to walk into the frame once or twice while doing something is acceptable, since inclusion of the child in the recording was unintentional, but  posting this video, where the primary focus is the child (and, furthermore, where the intent is ridicule thereof).  The right to record in public spaces is, in practice, maintained unless the subject explicitly objects, but a disabled child takes this far into the gray - mental disability and minority age both preclude the legal ability to consent and generally a parent should have been asked first (and a parent would have ultimately objected, since the intent was ridicule).

Unlisted Youtube videos are another legal gray area - you are not openly distributing the video, but you are still distributing it in a limited fashion, since Youtube sets (and can change) the rules that determine how discoverable the video is.

Finally, during Sakuracon, as an attending member, you are bound to Sakuracon's policy while in badge-required areas or around other attendees, staff, or convention guests.  The rules are not necessarily robust and were drafted for a much smaller convention, but they are still, as written, the rules of the convention.




The tournament had a great many people cameras pointing at it, so while pictures/video were not explicitly allowed, it was not explicitly disallowed either and it was shown to be generally acceptable by staff non-enforcement.  The kid, however, was not a participant of the event, and we therefore fall into the "Please be considerate and ask first before taking pictures of guests, other Members, or the general public" clause.  Normally, attendees give their permission by posing for a picture or by responding affirmatively when asked - this child, on the other hand, was unaware he was being recorded in the first place and did neither.

Now, I really doubt Sakuracon would do anything even if this video was publicly posted, since the photography/video policies, as noted above, reflect the much smaller convention of several years ago (their bylaws make it hard to update the official policies quickly, so Sakuracon leans heavily on unofficial policies and does one big update every few years), but as it sits now, it could be argued that you had no right to take this video per convention policies.

It is important to note that, most likely, nothing will happen at all in response to this video's questionable legality, even if it were publicly listed on Youtube, but it's worth noting that recording the kids at the convention may have violated both convention policy and the law.  Definitely, if the parents somehow contact you about taking it down, just do it, because fighting them at that point will cause a judge to rule against you, no questions asked - until then, keeping it unlisted is probably sufficient protection, but it's worth noting that the right to record people in public venues is not actually a given.  Taking ti down is, of course, the only way to be completely sure that you're safe, so weigh the information above to compare the benefits to the risks if you want to leave it up.

Here are the results of the DDR Tourny. I was going to post the videos that I took of the final round but after glancing at the looong post regarding a certain video, I will just wait for the topic to die down before posting a video.

Everybody, thank Tony for the awesome title of this tournament.  I couldn't come up with "Why No Dragonforce? Sunday Filler Tournament" if I tried, because I'm just not that awesome.

Bump to let you guys know this thread is the top google search result for "ddr autistic kid" now.

Go us and our promotion of autism awareness.