UMG orders YouTube take-down over 29 sec baby dancing clip - mother sues in test case

Stan Beer
Sunday, 28 October 2007 15:49

Opinion and Analysis

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.