MOM WHO POSTED DANCING BABY VIDEO ON YOUTUBE SCORES WIN FOR “FAIR USE” AS CASE HEADS TO TRIAL

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By Miriam Raftery

September 22, 2015 (San Francisco)—The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a victory to Stephanie Lenz, a mom who posted a 29-second video of her toddler dancing to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” music.

Prince’s publisher, Universal Music, demanded that she take down the video, claiming copyright infringement.  She sued, and on Monday, the appellate court ruled her case can go to trial.  The judges also ruled that copyright holders must consider fair use before asking services such as YouTube to remove videos.

The fair use doctrine allows limited use of copyrighted material for purposes such as commentary, critiques or news reporting.

In a prepared statement, the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s legal director Corynne McSherry declared, “Today’s ruling sends a strong message that copyright law does not authorize thoughtless censorship of lawful speech.”

Internet service providers including Goggle, Twitter and Tumblr supported Lenz, whose video was one of about 200 that Universal demanded be taken off the internet for using copyrighted music.

The New York Times reports that Johnathan Lamy with the Recording Industry Association of America says the organization disagrees with the decision “and the burden the court places upon copyright holders before sending takedown notices” under the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act.


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