A Copyfighter’s Musings

Last week, Viacom sent 100,000 takedown notices to YouTube, but not all the videos included Viacom content. Among the 100,000 videos targeted for takedowns was a home movie shot in a BBQ joint, a film trailer by a documentarian, and a music video about karaoke in Singapore. For its part, Viacom has admitted to “no more than” 60 mistakes, so far. Yet each mistake impacts free speech, both of the author of the video and of the viewing public.

If they are making these kinds of blatant mistakes, who can tell how many fair uses of Viacom content they also targeted in their 100,000 takedowns? If you think your video was removed based on a bogus takedown, contact the Electronic Frontier Foundation at information@eff.org — we may be able to help you directly or help find another lawyer who can. In this situation, as in so many others, EFF will work to make sure that copyright claims don’t squelch free speech.

We’ve also put together this video about the takedowns on YouTube, which you can embed on your website or blog. Check it out, Digg it and spread the word — the more it rises in YouTube’s listings, the more likely it will be seen by users who have received takedowns.

(Cross posted from DeepLinks)

Filed by Derek Slater at 9:32 pm under Uncategorized
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