Origins of “M.K. Footage”
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 11th, 2006
The other day, I wrote positively about M.K. Davis’s work with the Patterson-Gimlin footage. Cryptomundo technical staff shared, in what we viewed as an extension of Davis’s past permissions and a fair use situation, M. K. Davis’ stabilization work done on the Patterson-Gimlin footage. Then very late that night, we were contacted by Bobbie Short (who coincidentally carries a fair use statement on every one of her pages because her site is so full of copyrighted material).
Ms. Short was speaking on M.K. Davis’s behalf, she said, and she told us to immediately remove “M.K.’s stabilization gif,” because we have not ask him for permission. We attempted to have M.K. directly speak to us about this. M.K., however, only would have Short speak for him.
Through the years, M.K. had frequently told Cryptomundo’s Craig Woolheater and Loren Coleman, at conferences and otherwise, “Hey, you can use my stuff.” But M. K. Davis, we guessed, feels differently nowadays due to Cryptomundo’s challenging reporting on his recent press release (“Bigfoot is human”) and his follow-up statements, over which many have puzzled. So we took down the moving gif.
Of course, this caused several of us at Cryptomundo to wonder aloud, how did the M.K. Davis stabilization footage come into existence? Unfortunately, what we discovered was that the lineage of the M.K. Davis product is one that Bigfooters have avoided talking about because they were afraid of what they might discover.
We turned to the forgotten person, Bigfoot researcher Rick Noll in the story of the “M.K. Davis footage” to learn of its intriguing history.
Before I published this, I attempted to make contact and have an open exchange of emails with M.K. Davis, asking him about rights and mentioning some of the elements of the following. Davis refused to answer my emails. But apparently working with some of this information, it was learned today he has gotten in touch with Mrs. Pat Patterson and appears to be working swiftly to gain the rights to the footage.
Rick Noll
CM: Here’s my understanding of the history of the “Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot footage” that everyone talks about as “M.K’s” footage, nowadays. You, Rick Noll painstakingly, microscopically photographed each individual frame of John Green’s copy of the film. You, Rick then turned those frames over to John Green. Chris Murphy got them from John Green. Chris Murphy gave them to M.K. Davis. Is that your understanding?
Noll: This is correct. Mrs. Patterson gave John Green permission to do so as long as she herself also received a copy of the images on CD. I sent her a set. She also gave Owen Caddy permission to use them in his presentation on analyzing the images through layers. She has also given permission to Doug H. for use in a program. [Doug H. is Doug Haijeck, the producer/director of Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science.]
CM: Oh.
Noll: Originally M.K. even denied he was using the images I made, but then we (Owen and I) looked at the meta-data contained in each and every picture and sure enough, they were taken with my camera.
CM: What are you feelings about this?
Noll: I feel like these images that I made for John [Green] were stolen from him, Mrs. Patterson and the Dahindens. I even told M.K. this and that he better not put it on the web. I was furious. He promised that he wouldn’t do that…but look where we are today. Oh yeah… he later wrote me and said that he would credit me in all of this. I told him no thanks.
CM: This history sounds rather incredible. Why haven’t people talked about it?
Noll: I have tried to tell people what has been going on but it is like it is falling on deaf ears. Nobody really cares because M.K. is doing stuff to the film that no one has ever seen before according to them. Hogwash!
CM: What do you mean “Hogwash”?
Noll: In my opinion, M.K. Davis has done nothing with the images I made from the film that any high school student using an inexpensive photo editing software package could not do. Layer the images into a moving Gif file and align the background between the pictures then reduce the size for streaming on the internet.
CM: The Dahindens and Mrs. Patterson require permissions and payments for their images and moving images. I know because $300 was paid in 1999 for the use of the colored Frame 352 (one that lots of people use incorrectly as “public domain” in books) for my field guide. I’ve been interviewed by many documentary production companies that talk about the standard fee for the moving footage being $6000. What do you know about permissions and licensing fees involving these new projects?
Noll: I don’t know if M.K. or Bobbie got permission but I sure did! I do not think that M.K has paid for the use… but I could be wrong. I also do not believe that Pat Holdbrook [did] either. They may be hoping to come up with the funds to do so by doing all of this (publicity, DVD and Movie)… promising Mrs. Patterson something out of it.
CM: What’s your next move?
Noll: I am seriously considering seeking damages done from M.K. through his misuse of pirated copies of my analysis. He is seriously jeopardizing a TV show I am currently working on that was going to feature the entire process I undertook and the results.
CM: Can I have your permission to quote you fully?
Noll: You can qoute me on anything I wrote in these emails on the subject.
CM: Thank you.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
For those who want to continue to enjoy viewing the stabilization video.
What a mess this has all turned into. Thanks for the advancement of knowledge MK.
Or here on youtube.
And, Cryptozoologists and Bigfoot enthusiasts the world over appreciate the hard work Mr. Noll put into the recreation and production of the footage.
Thank you Mr. Noll for bringing clarity to the famous film.
Let me begin by saying that if I, or any members of my organization, W.V.B.I.G. ever obtain video, photos, or vocalization recordings, I will share them with all other Bigfoot researchers.
I’m so sick & tired of competing egos. If we could all learn to work together, maybe, just maybe, we could finally get to the bottom of this mystery.
All I can say is….oy…
So, MK claimed work that wasn’t his own? I am very dismayed. My respect for MK just went out the window.
Not looking good. Not at all. Mrs. Patterson could very likely tell M.K. and his producer to take a hike. And that would be the end of M.K.’s project. Since making the movie for profit would be beyond the Fair Use Doctrine.
Whoo Boy, gonna be hard to deny permission to ALL those WebSites and Blogs and private computers that have had this “Stabilized” version available for so long…
JACKPOT – OR SIMPLY JACK!
Enlightening, to say the least. Even Sir Isaac Newton was humble enough to admit, if he’d seen further than others it was because he’d stood on the shoulders of giants.
The thing is, though, did Rick Noll, or anybody else, intend to use the individual frames in the way M.K. Davis used them, i.e. the stabilization of the image of Patty moving? It’s true what he did was simple and could’ve been done by anyone, but that was what was so ingenious about his use of the frames, it was only with hindsight the application became obvious.
As for M.K. Davis seeking to buy-up the Patterson rights: well, he’s starting to appear like the kid who, because everybody else won’t play the game by his rules, (rules he keeps arbitrarily changing as he goes along), he’s gonna buy the ball off the original owner and take it home with him.
Fortunately, he probably won’t succeed, because this whole drawn out affair is increasingly looking like a simple ruse to solicit funding for a documentary that’ll probably never be made.
At the moment, though, M.K. Davis reminds me of nothing so much as a goldfever-filled amateur Las Vegas slot jockey who’s convinced each dollar they lose is only bringing them that bit closer to making the machine finally pay out the million dollar jackpot, though whether he’ll hit paydirt or simply dirt before his capital runs out remains to be seen.
Heck I thought all us lawyers had to worry about was a Saquatch’s civil rights. Now we gotta figure out if Patty should get royalties for all the times her picture has been posted in books, on the net, and oh yes, the recordings, “Sasquatch Sings Country”.
Good thing I live near Nashville, all the good copyright and recording contract lawyers live there. Crypto- researchers beware, if Patty is human, I am a sue-in’.
Thank you Mr. Noll.
Just a thought but if Bigfoot falls within a certain classification of animal like we humans wouldn’t bigfoot have legal recourse since its photos have been taken and used without permission for financial gain? (tongue firmly planted in cheek) 🙂
On another tangent could Bigfoot supercede Native Americans as prime owner of North America?
What if they have a culture but are not human?
What if they are human but lack culture?
Fuzzy and others, the problem is not these “educational” forums and blogs posting the images. The problem is when copyright permission is not recieved when a profit is being made on protected photos, film and video.
nice article about the p/g filmfootage situation wow is still heating up… thanks bill
Thank you Rick Noll you have always approached the subject of Sasquatch objectively and professionally and most importantly not only behind your education but also combining it with your countless hours in the field. This community definitely lacks the hands on off the beaten path approach.
Aye carumba!
Also bigfoothunterlive.com has the shakefree version.
If I’m correct MK said this work was his on the bigfoot forums some time ago.
If he lied his credibility is destroyed.
So sad people feel they have to resort to being dishonest.
Thanks for shedding light on this.
P.S. Thanks also to Rick for all that you do.
If M.K. Davis is denied use of the footage, how long before conspiracy theorists raise the hue and cry of “Suppression of the Truth?”
Kimble,
It looks like you’re speaking facetiously. Anyway, I hope you are.
As we’ve seen here, according to Rick Noll, the images constituting the infamous walking sequence M.K. Davis is known for were obtained and used without the knowledge and permission of Noll and Mrs. Patterson. As far as I’ve been able to ascertain, Davis has accepted widespread praise for putting those images together into a gif, without crediting Noll, for over a year. He and
redacted by Cryptomundoand Holdbrook all apparently made plans to profit from the walking sequence without first seeking permission from Noll and Mrs. Patterson.It will be interesting to see if those who frown on such behavior and have expressed virulent criticism toward a certain well-known author will hold Davis to the same standards.
I won’t hold my breath.