"Roy Schestowitz" <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1448488.ng0f0JS8Hd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Universal sued for dancing baby take-down
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | A PENNSYLVANIA woman is being permitted to sue Universal Music for
> forcing
> | Youtube to take down a video clip of her baby dancing to Prince's Let's
> Go
> | Crazy.
> |
> | Universal ordered the video timewasting site to remove a 29-second home
> video
> | by Stephanie Lenz of Gallitzin, claiming that it violated copyright laws
> on
> | the song.
> `----
>
> http://www.theinquirer.net/feeds/rss/generic/en/GB/inq/latest/gb/inquirer/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/21/universal-sued-dancing-baby
>
> Judge: Copyright owners must consider 'fair use'
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | A federal judge on Wednesday gave more weight to the concept of "fair
> use"
> | when he threw a lifeline to a Pennsylvania mother's lawsuit against
> Universal
> | Music.
Two issues are here:
1) Is Stephanie Lenz (the woman who posted the video) entitled to present
her case in court rather than have a judge dismiss it without her
opportunity to present her side in a forum where she can ask questions of
the other side and have questions asked of her?
2) Does she have a case that her use of a song which doesn't belong to her
nonetheless amounts to "fair use" (as understood in law)?
I believe the answers are 1) Yes, 2) No.
"Fair use" is not one of the cut-and-dry areas of copyright law. When a
court decision is reached on "fair use," it is after looking at a slew of
factors and examining the two works in their entireties. This is not what a
judge might do sitting at a desk, reading petitions, without the opportunity
to ask questions.
The Supreme Court and lower courts have issued some rulings worth taking a
look at if you're interested in the subject:
http://chart.copyrightdata.com/c12C.html
The related subject of similarities of works might also be studied, although
this is a particularly non-cut-and-dry area of copyright law:
http://chart.copyrightdata.com/c13A.html
Did Lenz use more of the Prince song than necessary to communicate what was
going on in her video? I think so. It's not as though she couldn't have
muted the sound. I believe she also has tainted her case by making
statements about the song being "an old song" as though it were she who is
entitled to decide how long a work should enjoy copyright and not the
Congress. If you want to see how long terms of copyright have been
established as being, take a look at the chart at
http://chart.copyrightdata.com/ or visit copyright.gov, where the U.S.
Copyright Office reproduces its circulars on the subject as well as the
entire copyright act (in its very lengthy totality).
--
David Hayes
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