August 26, 2008
In the USA a judge has ruled that copyright holders must make an assessment of whether ‘fair use’ has been made of their work before issuing a takedown notice. Failure to make an assessment could result in the rights holder being liable for damages.
Universal Music issued a takedown notice to Youtube reagrding a video in which a woman’s 13 month old son danced while a song by Prince played in the background. The Judge found that Universal had not made an assessment of whether this use constituted ‘fair use’. The woman is now suing Universal for misrepresentation and interferance with her contract with Youtube.
While the doctrine of ‘fair use’ in the USA is not exactly the same as the UK notion of ‘fair dealing’ this ruling suggests that the big rights holders such as Universal may have to consider each case more carefully before issuing takedown notices whenever their property is used.
More details on Out-Law http://www.out-law.com//default.aspx?page=9375
