NFL Caught Abusing the DMCA

Implied Oral Consent writes "You know how the NFL puts up those notices before every game saying 'This telecast is copyrighted by the NFL for the private use of our audience, and any other use of this telecast or of any pictures, descriptions or accounts of the game without the NFL's consent is prohibited?' Well, Ars Technica is reporting that Wendy Seltzer thought that that was over-reaching and posted a video of the notice on YouTube. Predictably, the NFL filed a DMCA Take Down notice on the clip. But Ms. Seltzer knows her rights, so she filed a DMCA Counter Notice. This is when the NFL violated the DMCA, by filing another Take Down notice instead of taking the issue to court — their only legitimate option, according to the DMCA. Unfortunately for the NFL, Ms. Seltzer is a law professor, an EFF lawyer, and the founder of Chilling Effects. Oops!"

Comments

Re:Huh?

[rm69990]

Ever heard of fair use? She took a short clip showing the NFL's copyright notice, not the entire broadcast, for the purposes of educational debate. Precisely what fair use covers. And that's why the NFL violated the DMCA as opposed to taking her to court...

Re:Huh?

[jmv]

But wasn't Seltzer acting contrary to the law to begin with?

No. Ever heard of fair use?

Might be covered by "Fair Use"

[Lonewolf666]

IANAL, but posting the copyright note to YouTube may be covered by the legal doctrine of "Fair Use". Fair Use allows some degree of copying for the purpose of criticism or comment.