Press Releases related to No Downtime for Free Speech Campaign
Bogus IP Claims Quash Debate Over Future of NYC Landmark
Parody Website Shut Down by Baseless Lawsuit Against Community Organizer
New York - A New York City community organizer is fighting back in court after her parody website challenging redevelopment efforts in New York City's historic Union Square was shut down with bogus claims of copyright infringement and cybersquatting.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is representing Savitri Durkee, an activist concerned with preserving the character of Union Square and Union Square Park. As one part of her education campaign, Durkee created a website parodying the official website of Union Square Partnership (USP), a group backing extensive redevelopment of the area. In response, USP sent Durkee's Internet service provider a notice pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act improperly asserting that her parody site infringed USP's copyright, leading to the shutdown of the site. USP then filed a copyright lawsuit against Durkee and later filed a claim with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) seeking to take control of the parody site's domain name.
EFF today filed a response to USP's complaint on Durkee's behalf, pointing out that Durkee's parody is protected under the First Amendment and fair use doctrine. The response includes counterclaims asking the court to declare that her site does not infringe USP's trademarks and to prevent USP from taking control of Durkee's domain name, as well as to find that USP's complaint was intended to stifle legitimate political speech. Durkee is also seeking compensation for the abridgement of her speech.
"Union Square is where the U.S. labor movement was born and where abolitionists, suffragettes, civil rights activists and many others have fought for and exercised their First Amendment rights," said Durkee. "It's ironic that USP is now trying to keep me from using my parody website to speak out about the future of Union Square."
In the WIPO proceedings, USP has argued that Durkee's website copied elements of USP's website and that users are likely to be confused into thinking the parody site is actually USP's site.
"Ms. Durkee's site is a parody, so of course it mimicked USP's site to some extent. That's how parodies work," said EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry. "The parody site is plainly a fair use and protected by the First Amendment. This is a case about censoring speech, not about infringement."
In addition to filing her answer and counterclaims, Durkee today filed a letter with the court asking for a prompt hearing on her fair use defense. Durkee asked the court to convene a conference as soon as possible to set a schedule for briefing and a hearing.
The law firms Mayer Brown LLP and Gross & Belsky LLP are co-counsel in this case.
For the full answer and counterclaim:
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/usp_v_durkee/Answer%20and%20Countercla...
For more on USP v. Durkee:
http://www.eff.org/cases/usp-v-durkee
Contacts:
Michael Kwun
Senior Intellectual Property Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
michael@eff.org
Corynne McSherry
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
corynne@eff.org
TV Networks Must Stop Blocking Election Videos on YouTube
Public Interest Coalition Outlines Steps to Protect Online Political Speech
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a coalition of public interest groups called on four television networks today to stop stifling vibrant political debate on the Internet with overreaching copyright claims and proposed two measures to help YouTube protect online political speech in the final days before America's presidential election.
In an open letter sent to CBS, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Fox, and NBC, the coalition asked the broadcasters to stop sending takedown requests based on copyright in short clips of news footage used in election-related videos. Last week, the McCain-Palin campaign contacted YouTube after CBS, CBN, and Fox targeted the campaign's videos for removal from YouTube. The Obama-Biden campaign has had at least one of its videos removed from YouTube in response to a similar copyright demand from NBC.
"The videos at issue include clips of news footage that last only a few seconds, used as part of constitutionally-protected political speech. This is not piracy, but fair use, no different from what Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show do every night," said EFF Senior Intellectual Property Attorney Fred von Lohmann. "Sending unfounded takedown notices is not only against the law, it also threatens to interfere with the vibrant political debate occurring on community video sites like YouTube. Remixing the news to make your point is what political speech looks like in the 21st century."
The networks' use of copyright law to remove the videos is especially disappointing as CBS, NBC-Universal, and Fox have all officially endorsed "User-Generated Content Principles" (www.ugcprinciples.com) aimed at accommodating legitimate fair use of their material.
In a separate open letter written to YouTube, the coalition suggests two measures to protect all video contributors from unfounded takedown demands. First, all "counter-notices" sent by YouTube users protesting copyright takedown demands should be immediately reviewed by YouTube staff, and the video immediately restored if it is a clear case of fair use. Second, once a user has already provided a valid counter-notice, then YouTube should also review any further takedown notice issued to any video posted to the account.
"In clear cases of fair use, YouTube should stand firmly behind the interests of its user community," said von Lohmann. "YouTube has nothing to fear by hosting videos that do not infringe anyone's copyright."
In addition to EFF, the coalition includes the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); the ACLU of Northern California; the Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard's Berkman Center; Anthony Falzone, the executive director of Stanford's Fair Use Project; the Center for Social Media, School of Communication, American University; the Program for Information Justice & Intellectual Property, American University Law School; and Public Knowledge.
For the full letter to the television networks:
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/ip_freespeech/letter+to+networks.pdf
For the full letter to YouTube:
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/ip_freespeech/letter+to+YouTube.pdf
For more on user-generated content and political speech:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/08/election-approaches-do-your-part-pr...
Contacts:
Corynne McSherry
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
corynne@eff.org
Fred von Lohmann
Senior Intellectual Property Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
fred@eff.org
Law Firm Uses Bogus Trademark Claim in Attempt to Silence Online News Site
EFF Urges Judge to Dismiss Baseless Lawsuit
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Public Citizen, joined by Public Knowledge and Citizen Media Law Project, urged a federal judge in Chicago Friday to dismiss a law firm's baseless trademark claims, which were apparently aimed at quashing speech by an online news site.
The firm of Jones Day filed the lawsuit against the real estate news site Blockshopper.com, alleging that using its trademark "Jones Day" to refer to the firm in a headline and linking to the Jones Day website could lead to confusion over the sponsorship of the site. In its amicus brief, EFF and Public Citizen argue that these routine references to Jones Day are well-established fair uses of a trademark and clearly protected by the First Amendment.
"The claims are absurd--Blockshopper was simply reporting accurately on the activities of two lawyers who happen to be Jones Day employees," said EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry. "That reporting is protected under trademark and free speech law, and Jones Day should know that. If Jones Day had its way, any trademark holder could use trademark claims to restrict news and commentary related to its business and any of its employees."
"Jones Day alleges that the public could be confused by the references to its name and links, but Internet users know that websites generally link to other websites, independent of any official affiliation," said Paul Alan Levy, attorney with Public Citizen. "That's why it's called the World Wide Web."
This amicus brief is part of EFF's No Downtime for Free Speech Campaign, which works to protect online expression in the face of baseless intellectual property claims. Robert Libman of Barnhill, Miner & Galland assisted in filing the brief.
For the full amicus brief:
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/JDvBlockshopper/JonesDayAmicusBrief.pd...
Contacts:
Corynne McSherry
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
corynne@eff.org
Paul Alan Levy
Attorney
Public Citizen
plevy@citizen.org
Friday Court Hearing in YouTube Video Battle
Home Movie of Toddler Dancing to Prince Sparks Bogus Copyright Claim
San Jose - On Friday, July 18, at 9 a.m., the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will urge a federal judge in San Jose to protect the free speech and fair use rights of mother who posted a home movie of her son dancing to Prince on YouTube.
EFF represents Stephanie Lenz, who uploaded a 29-second clip of her son dancing in the family kitchen to the Prince song, "Let's Go Crazy," which is playing on a stereo in the background. Remarkably, Universal Music Publishing Group claimed that the video infringed its copyrights, and had the video yanked from YouTube. Lenz's lawsuit against Universal seeks to hold the company accountable for misrepresenting that her fair use violated its copyrights.
In Friday's hearing, EFF will ask U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel to reject Universal's motion to dismiss the case, and allow Lenz's lawsuit to continue.
WHAT:
Lenz v. Universal
WHEN:
Friday, July 18
9 a.m.
WHERE:
United States District Court, Northern District of California
Courtroom 3, 5th Floor
280 South 1st Street
San Jose, CA 95113
Contact:
Rebecca Jeschke
Media Coordinator
Electronic Frontier Foundation
press@eff.org
Animal Welfare Group Battles Online Censorship of Rodeo Videos
Bogus Copyright Claims Used to Block YouTube Critique of Animal Mistreatment
Chicago - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked a federal court today to protect the free speech rights of an animal welfare group after its video critiques of animal treatment at rodeos were removed from YouTube due to sham copyright claims.
The group Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) is a non-profit organization that videotapes and photographs rodeos in order to expose animal abuse, injuries, and deaths. SHARK posted more than two dozen videos to YouTube to publicize this animal mistreatment. But the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) filed takedown demands for 13 of the videos under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), claiming the videos infringed their copyrights. YouTube consequently removed the videos and canceled SHARK's entire YouTube account, even though the PRCA has no copyright claim in live rodeo events.
"The PRCA may not like it when our clients raise tough questions about how animals are treated at rodeos, " said EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry. "But this copyright claim is completely baseless, and made simply to block the public from seeing SHARK's controversial videos. The PRCA can't be permitted to silence its critics through a misuse of the law."
Because of the baseless copyright claims, SHARK's videos were unavailable to the public for approximately two weeks. In a lawsuit filed today, EFF asks the court to affirm that SHARK's videos do not infringe any of the PRCA's copyrights, and to hold the PRCA accountable for lodging these spurious claims.
"We can't let the PRCA continue to interfere with SHARK's free speech rights," said SHARK investigator Michael Kobliska. "It's simply not right for us to waste our time and money dealing with these baseless DMCA takedowns that block our message from getting out to the public."
This lawsuit is part of EFF's No Downtime for Free Speech Campaign, which works to protect online expression in the face of baseless copyright claims. EFF has seen people and organizations increasingly misusing the DMCA to demand that material be removed from the Internet without providing any proof of infringement. Furthermore, service providers -- fearful of monetary damages and legal hassles -- often comply with these requests without double-checking them, despite the cost to free speech and individual rights.
"We must stop the abuse of the DMCA," said EFF Intellectual Property Fellow Emily Berger. "Those bringing meritless copyright claims must be held accountable so that free speech can continue to flourish online."
Charles Lee Mudd Jr. of Mudd Law Offices in Chicago and the John Marshall Law School Center for Information Technology & Privacy Law are also representing SHARK in this suit.
For the full complaint in SHARK v. PRCA: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/SHARK_v_PRCA/08cv3314comp.pdf
For more on EFF's No Downtime for Free Speech Campaign: http://www.eff.org/issues/ip-and-free-speech
Contacts:
Emily Berger
Intellectual Property Fellow
Electronic Frontier Foundation
emily@eff.org
Corynne McSherry
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
corynne@eff.org
Michael Kobliska
SHARK Investigator
mkobliska@sharkonline.org
Fair Use Advocates Issue Principles for Protecting Online Videos
Six Concrete Guidelines Aim to Balance Free Speech Rights and Copyright
San Francisco - Online video-hosting services like YouTube have ushered in a new era of free expression online, as well as vigorous copyright enforcement efforts. Today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a coalition of leading public interest groups issued a "Fair Use Principles" document that sets out six concrete guidelines designed to minimize the collateral damage that copyright enforcement efforts may inflict on video creators who are "remixing" copyrighted material into new video creations.
Fair use is the copyright doctrine that permits unauthorized uses of copyrighted material for transformative purposes. Creators naturally quote from and build upon the media that makes up their culture, yielding new works that comment on, parody, satirize, criticize, and pay tribute to the expressive works that have come before. Consequently, much of the new "remix" creativity on video hosting sites like YouTube depends on fair use.
As part of their own "UGC Principles" effort announced last week, video hosting services and major media companies emphasized the importance of accommodating fair use. The "Fair Use Principles" released today propose detailed steps that content owners and video hosting services can take to make good on that promise.
"As video hosting services begin to implement copyright filtering technology, it is time to discuss concrete strategies to protect creative videos that remix material from movies, TV and popular music," said EFF Senior Intellectual Property Attorney Fred von Lohmann. "Our aim is to speak for the interests of the millions of amateur creators who are fueling the popularity of YouTube and similar sites."
Fair uses have been mistakenly caught up in copyright enforcement dragnets in the past. For example, earlier this year blogger Michelle Malkin's video about rapper Akon was erroneously taken down from YouTube after Universal Music Group (UMG) claimed copyright infringement. In that case, two excerpts from Akon music videos were embedded in a longer commentary about the rap star. Although UMG ultimately admitted its mistake, automated content filtering raises the possibility that commentaries like this might be blocked preemptively in the future.
With cases like this one in mind, "Fair Use Principles for User-Generated Content" describes six steps that service providers and copyright owners should take to minimize damage to fair use during copyright enforcement efforts. One key principle is "three strikes before blocking" -- verifying that the video matches the video of a copyrighted work, that the audio matches the audio of the same work, and that nearly all of the clip is comprised of that single work. In addition, if a video is blocked by a content filter, the creator should be given an opportunity to dispute the filter's determination.
To accompany the "Fair Use Principles" document, EFF has also posted a gallery of videos that could be jeopardized by automated copyright filters, in hopes that video hosting services and content owners will be able to test their filters against these fair use videos.
The coalition supporting the principles includes the Center for Social Media, School of Communications, American University; Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property, Washington College of Law, American University; Public Knowledge; Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School; and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. In addition, the Fair Use Project at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society contributed to the development of the document.
For "Fair Use Principles for User-Generated Video Content":
http://www.eff.org/issues/ip-and-free-speech/fair-use-principles-usergen
For the gallery of fair use videos:
http://www.eff.org/pages/UGC-test-suite
For more on fair use and free speech:
http://www.eff.org/issues/ip-and-free-speech
Contact:
Fred von Lohmann
Senior Intellectual Property Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
fred@eff.org
