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Politics 117: Video and Fair Use. Lenz vs. Universal. Lenz vs. Universal. February 7, 2007: Stephanie Lenz posts Youtube.com of her kid rocking to Prince “Let’s go crazy” song Universal sends Youtube a DMCA takedown notice, warns Lenz not to do it again. Lenz fights back! .
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Lenz vs. Universal • February 7, 2007: Stephanie Lenz posts Youtube.com of her kid rocking to Prince “Let’s go crazy” song • Universal sends Youtube a DMCA takedown notice, warns Lenz not to do it again
Lenz fights back! • Sends Youtube.com a DMCA “counter notification” 17 U.S.C. § 512(g) • “the subscriber has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled.” • Youtube reposts video (it gets 593,000 hits)
It was Prince’s Fault! • Universal statement October 2007: • “Prince believes it is wrong for YouTube, or any other user-generated site, to appropriate his music without his consent. That position has nothing to do with any particular video that uses his songs. It’s simply a matter of principle. And legally, he has the right to have his music removed. We support him and this important principle. That’s why, over the last few months, we have asked YouTube to remove thousands of different videos that use Prince music without his permission.”
Lenz goes ballistic! • Lenz sues Universal (pdf) for misrepresenting the DMCA • Demands court ruling that her posting was Fair Use • Court denies Universal summary judgment against Lenz
Lenz: Why the video was “Fair Use” • Lenz (pdf) made the video to show her mother, who had a hard time opening e-mail attachments • The video was “noncommercial and transformative” • The amount of use was minor • No “market harm”
Universal: how were we to know? • Universal “could not have known that (as Plaintiff alleged for the first time in April 2008) she posted the video to YouTube because her mother in California had difficulty watching videos as email attachments; that she told her mother that the song ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ by Prince made her son dance around the kitchen; or that Plaintiff’s mother” (pdf)
Universal: how were we to know? • Lenz did not initially think her posting was fair use • Lenz suffered no damages as a result of Youtube.com’s takedown notice