for everyone

Last week the EFF achieved a victory against Universal Music when a judge ruled that Universal should have considered fair use before filing a DMCA take-down notice for the infamous Prince/baby-dancing video.

Because Universal Music reviewed the baby-dancing video in order to identify “Let’s go crazy” playing, the judge noted “that it wasn’t any sort of onerous burden to expect the copyright holder to make a fair use determination…to make sure it’s infringing in the first place.”

While it’s unlikely the courts are ready to penalize copyright holders for making an inaccurate claim (because of the subjectivity in determining fair use), this case should encourage organizations to think twice before making frivolous infringement claims when in fact the material in question makes fair use of the work.