Expelled /Premise Media's Thievery and Dembski's Mental Deficiency Made Clear
David Bolinsky, "the medical illustrator chiefly responsible for The Inner Life of the Cell," the video pirated for use in Ben Stein's Expelled, had emailed Richard Dawkins regarding the situation of the unlicensed use of XVIVO's work in Expelled. As Dawkins has stated explicitly that he has reproduced the email on his own website by permission, I won't reproduce it here. Instead, you'll have to go read it over on Dawkins' site. Nonetheless, the email's opening line is so on-target that I will exercise a bit of fair use:
To the anti-ID community which is giving XVIVO support in our ideological battle against the microcephalic apostates of "Intelligent Design":
Mind you, Dembski has also shown his support in the effort to expose Intelligent Design Creationism as the activity of base and amoral deceivers. He has written some comments himself which will probably disappear from that blog, but a commentor on RichardDawkins.net has been kind enough to help insure their preservation. I will do so as well:
I've gotten to know the producers quite well. As far as I can tell, they made sure to budget for lawsuits. Also, I know for a fact that they have one of the best intellectual property attorneys in the business. I expect that the producers made their video close enough to the Harvard video to get tongues awagging (Headline: "Harvard University Seeks Injunction Against Ben Stein and EXPELLED" â€" you think that might generate interest in the movie?), but different enough so that they are unexposed.Dembski, bumbleshmuck that he is, has managed to admit publicly that the video appearing in Expelled was ripped off wholesale from XVIVO. That is the hubris of William Dembski screaming volumes at us, taking pride in his knowledge of and likely involvement in what is nothing more than theft. This is the morality that evolutionary biology, the advocates of Neocreationism would have us believe, is being eroded. If that is the case, if this is the morality of which I am guilty of attacking because I stand firmly on the side of scientific reason, then so be it. I will as gladly be thought guilty to be opposed to malfeasance of this sort as I would be thought of as being responsible for a decline in the number of burglaries in my neighborhood.
It was a nice touch on the producer's part to use the same music as the XVIVO video. Presumably they got permission from the artist â€" or is that another possible oversight to explore? But then again, one of the producers was for years in the music business. So most likely they're covered here as well.
BOTTOM LINE: Before you think the producers of EXPELLED are idiots, you might think that they are chess players who have seen several moves ahead. For instance, have you ever thought who stood to gain the most from the Machine Video featured at UD a week ago? . . .— William Debski
April 1, 2008
3:37 PM
It is not a matter anymore of whether this video is removed from Expelled before that movie goes into generally release at a few score theaters in second and third-tier markets around the country. It isn't even a matter of whether or not a lawsuit is undertaken by legal representation hired by XVIVO. This is not a matter of laws alone but one of the morality of people who planned all along to steal from others, who conspired from the outset to take what didn't belong to them, use it in ways that were never sanctioned by its authors, and plan ahead for the legalities involved.
A criminal who never gets caught may not have a criminal record, but that makes him no less a criminal. In this case, we have from William Dembski a full confession. In the eyes of a decent and just society, it shouldn't even matter anymore whether or not some civil suit ever takes place. We have first-hand information regarding the depth to which these people are willing to sink in order to advance their agenda.
Bolinsky's email and Dembski's comment stand in stark contrast to one another. It is useful, I think, that they can be read on one page. DavidJGrossman and Dawkins have done us a great service in allowing us to see them close together as they now stand.
