I'm upvoting you, but I think your parallel falls apart at a certain level. The Oatmeal provides his content freely available, a la carte, at his own website.

I'm upvoting you, but I think your parallel falls apart at a certain level. The Oatmeal provides his content freely available, a la carte, at his own website. There is no fundamental difference from consuming his "product" at http://www.theoatmeal.com http://www.theoatmeal.com vs http://www.funnyjunk.com http://www.funnyjunk.com. This is part of the general outrage, as FunnyJunk has provided no extra value for consumers, yet is still profiting. However TPB/Youtube (arguably) provides value where the content creators (Sony/Viacom) don't, specifically in ease of distribution in the format/timeline the market demands. I'm not saying you're wrong prima facie, however it's important to note that TPB and YouTube provide much more value vs. the licensed offerings than FunnyJunk does vs The Oatmeal.