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Warner Bros. Admits To Issuing Bogus Takedowns

Posted by Soulskill on from the hold-up-a-cease-and-desist-notice-if-you're-surprised dept.

An anonymous reader sends this quote from TechDirt: "One of the bizarre side notes to Hollywood's big lawsuit against the cyberlocker Hotfile was a countersuit against Warner Bros. by Hotfile, for using the easy takedown tool that Hotfile had provided, to take down a variety of content that was (a) non-infringing and (b) had nothing to do with Warner Bros. at all (i.e., the company did not hold the copyright on those files). In that case, WB admitted that it filed a bunch of false takedowns, but said it was no big deal because it was all done by a computer. Of course, it then came out that at least one work was taken down by a WB employee, and that employee had done so on purpose, annoyed that JDownloader could help possible infringers download more quickly."

6 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. I didn't have sex with your wife by sandbagger · · Score: 5, Funny

    My wiener did. So, we're good, right?

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    ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
  2. HEY! they're infringing on my business method pat by Thud457 · · Score: 3, Funny

    PERJURY, with a computer!

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    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  3. Re:The score so far by DickBreath · · Score: 5, Funny

    > Penalty for infringing on copyrights: uncounted billions.

    Uh, excuse me, sir. It was $75 TRILLION. Not mere Billions. Google it: RIAA $75 TRILLION.

    Oh, wait, but this is about movies rather than music. Nevermind. It's all okay then. :-(

    This may be more than the global GDP, but music is worth it. If you FEEELTHY pirates can't pay $75 trillion because there's not enough wealth on the planet, then you shouldn't listen to the music. Better yet, all music should be locked up where nobody can ever hear it again -- to protect the artists.

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    I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
  4. Re:Oh Okay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I like the idea of randomly generating files that just happen to resemble songs and movies when played back through the proper software.

    How would you distinguish them from "real" songs and movies these days?

  5. Re:Oh Okay by danceswithtrees · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, if done by a computer it must be OK. Alternatively, if not OK, they should agree to a 80,000x multiplier for cost vs penalty (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_v._Thomas was initially $1.92M for 24 songs or $80K/song which is a $1 on iTunes). Lets say IT and legal fees for a single request are $1000. So a single bogus take-down request should cost the label $80M. Sounds about right using RIAA math.

  6. Re:Oh Okay by omnichad · · Score: 4, Funny

    I was going to say takedown notices, but apparently that won't work.