Stan Beer
Sunday, 28 October 2007 16:49
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
Universal Music Group (UMG) has once again proven how out of touch it is with the digital age and for its trouble the company has been legally slapped in the face by an irate mother with the help of Internet rights watchdog, Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF).
This story actually borders on the incredible but
the
legal document lodged in the US District for the Northern District
of California tells a tale that might not otherwise be believed.
In a nutshell, a young mother in February this year posted a 29 second
home video clip of her 18 month old baby dancing to barely audible
music from the 23 year old Prince song Let's Go Crazy, which was being
played on TV at half-time of a football game. The mother obviously
posted the clip for the benefit of friends and family and there was
nothing extraordinary about it. What followed, however, was
extraordinary.
Thanks to UMG and its copyright policing brigade, YouTube was issued
with a take-down notice for the home video clip, due to the few seconds
of the song in the background that could be heard. This take-down
notice was honoured and the mother, Stephanie Lenz, was informed by
YouTube that her clip had been removed from the site. Furthermore, she
was warned that by YouTube that further infringements could lead to her
accounts being cancelled.
No doubt, YouTube's action satisfied UMG. However, Ms Lenz, who in
addition to being a mother is a writer and editor, was incensed and she
demanded that the video be restored. In addition, with the help of EFF,
she has lodged a legal suit claiming damages against UMG.
The suit alleges that UMG has misrepresented copyright claims under the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and has intentionally
interfered with her contract with YouTube.
"This case arises from an improper legal claim of copyright
infringement against a mother who made a short video recording of her
children playing and dancing, which she later made available to her
family and friends on the popular Internet video website YouTube. The
threat successfully compelled YouTube to remove Plaintiff’s original
video from public access,” the suit states.
