Lawrence Lessig Wins Fair Use Case

just_another_sean writes "An Australian record label that threatened to sue one of the world's most famous copyright attorneys for infringement has reached a settlement with him. The settlement includes an admission that Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law School professor, had the right to use a song by the band Phoenix. From the article: 'In a statement, Liberation Music admitted Lessig's use of the song was protected by fair use — a legal doctrine that allows copyrighted material to be used for education, satire and a few other exceptions. Liberation Music says it will also pay Lessig for the harm it caused. The amount is confidential under the terms of the agreement, but it will be dedicated to supporting work by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital civil rights group, to work on causes that were important to Lessig's friend Aaron Swartz, a technologist and activist who committed suicide last year.'"

Comments

Re:Is the settlement open for all ?

[jargonburn]

Settlements do not set a precedent. Or not of the legal variety, so far as I understand it. But actually having them agree to *admit* that his use qualified as Fair Use is pretty significant. Usually civil settlements avoid admitting anything about the validity of whatever claim was settled. Such an admission could serve as a basis for additional pressure on them from others who use music in any related circumstance. Of course, I'm not a lawyer and assert that anything I say on the matter is merely half-assed guessing based on what little common sense I've accrued over the years.

Re:what happened here

[Anonymous Coward]

'You have to wonder, at what point did they realise they were taking a copyright case against one of the world's most famous legal authorities on copyright!'

After it was waaay too late.

I suspect Mr. Lessig has gone fishing.
      First choosing a type of fish. (A copyright holder known to use indiscriminate tactics on YouTube.)
      Choose a location to fish. (AU, not sure why here, but I bet there's a reason.)
      Choose a bait. (His educational video with a bit of their song for their bots to find.)
      Wait for a bite (Their takedown notice to him)
      Set the hook so they couldn't get away. (His counter action.)
          (They likely figured it out about here.)
      Have his way with them. (The settlement requiring them to mend their ways.)

Even if you are the fish, you have to admire his style.

Re:Is the settlement open for all ?

[tunabomber]

As others have mentioned, there is no need for precedent because once the plaintiff actually started reading the laws, there wasn't much legal ambiguity- Liberation Music was wrong and Lessig was right. I think he got the upper hand here. From TFA:

In winning this tussle, Lessig was also able to score a larger victory for his cause. Liberation Music agreed to adopt new policies around issuing takedown notices. The label has promised to work with Lessig to improve its YouTube and copyright policies to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Being in the right is never enough to avoid being sued or legally threatened, but at least this settlement is an attempt to fix that problem in the context of YouTube. Oh- and all the settlement cash is going to the EFF.