Californian judge, Jeremy Fogel, has ruled that content owners must consider “fair use” before sending Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices.
The ruling was issued in the YouTube “dancing baby” video where Stephanie Lenz received a take down notice after she added a Prince song “Let’s Go Crazy” as background music to her kids’ dancing around the kitchen, and posted it on YouTube.
Her video was removed because of a DMCA takedown notice from Universal, along with almost 200 others involving Prince’s compositions.
The ruling is “a major victory for free speech and fair use on the Internet,” said Corinne McSherry, staff attorney to the Electronic Frontier Foundation which represented Ms. Lenz.
I am not sure that Free Speech is at issue, but this is certainly a victory for fair use.
