Christopher Knight

Robert Christopher Knight (born 1973/1974) is a blogger and filmmaker based in Greenville, South Carolina who received much attention for a video he uploaded to YouTube and a subsequent copyright infringement clash with Viacom. The incident has since gone on to be cited in numerous legal writings and court cases involving digital copyright and the interests of corporations versus independent content producers. Education Knight graduated from Rockingham County Senior High School in 1992. He earned an Associate of Arts degree from Rockingham Community College in Wentworth, North Carolina. In 1999, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Historical Studies from Elon University in Elon, North Carolina. Career Knight ran for one of five new at-large seats on the Rockingham County, North Carolina Board of Education in 2006, and self-produced a series of television commercials for his campaign. Knight paid for airtime and the commercials were broadcast on WGSR Star 39 from Reidsville, North Carolina in the month leading up to the November 7 election. The first commercial that Knight created, dubbed simply "Christopher Knight for School Board Commercial #1", played off the Star Wars movies. In the one-minute spot, the Death Star destroys a tiny red schoolhouse while a female voice actress describes how legislation like No Child Left Behind has turned the federal government into a "cosmic bully" that is "targeting and destroying our ability to best teach our children". The second half of the commercial features Knight wielding a blue-bladed lightsaber, describing how he is a "fiscal conservative" who wants more local control over the county's schools. The commercial ends with Knight twirling the lightsaber in a flourish as he vows "to defend a bright and shining future for the children of Rockingham County".