EFF Lawyer Calls YouTube ContentID Worse Than DMCA

Richard Koman writes "Warner Music Group is apparently blocking everything YouTube ContentID comes up with as potential infringement. We knew that, but this piece by Jason Perlow shows that they're also spewing out DMCA takedown notices for some pretty clearly fair-use stuff. In my interview with EFF's Fred von Lohmann he talks about how, as bad as the DMCA process is — and it's pretty firmly against fair-use — YouTube's process gives remixers and digital creators even fewer options to assert their right to speak through the fair use of copyright material. While EFF is negotiating with Google and the studios, he suggests that users boycott YouTube if they won't stand up for fair use."

Comments

It's pretty sad

[S7urm]

That people expect a service that provides easily searchable, accessible, and embeddable content, to fight your crusade for you. Why SHOULD they fight fair use battles if that wasn't their implied mission from square one? I know that if I was the owner/operator of YouTube I'd do everything that I had to do to protect my business from being sued by DMCA happy lawyers.

You also have to keep in mind that crusaders of Fair Use are in the Minority, because your average Joe doesn't even know what the DMCA is or ever even heard of the RIAA, and THAT is the audience a huge site like YouTube is focusing on.

I agree that it sucks, and that the DMCA sucks and is abused, but you can't expect everyone to chance everything to fight something that garners No common interest among the majority of it's users population.

Write em' an e-mail, and gripe to them, just don't expect anything to happen at the speed you'd like to see.