Fair use earns rare court triumph

A federal judge in the case of Lenz v Universal et al decided against dismissing her suit against the music publisher, saying the issue of fair use needs to be considered before dishing out DMCA takedown complaints.


Two points of interest came out of the decision handed down in US District Court in San Jose (via Electronic Frontier Foundation). First, fair use does have a place in the modern world, not necessarily just when it suits a massive media conglomerate.

And second, Prince may be a bit of a control freak. He's an artist and a remarkably talented one, so one has to excuse some things. But he's alleged to be the motivating force behind Universal pursuing takedowns of any video containing his music.

The Stephanie Lenz home video contained about 20 seconds of Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" and earned a takedown notice from Universal. Lenz uploaded the video to YouTube, which complied with the DMCA request.

Lenz fought back after researching fair use and sued Universal. The two sides debated on whether or not fair use constituted an authorized use of the song under copyright law.

From Judge Jeremy Fogel's decision not to dismiss the case:

Even if Universal is correct that fair use only excuses infringement, the fact remains that fair use is a lawful use of a copyright.

Accordingly, in order for a copyright owner to proceed under the DMCA with “a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law,” the owner must evaluate whether the material makes fair use of the copyright.

Much of the problems today stemming from what people can and can't do with multimedia content stem from fair use being a somewhat nebulous concept. The idea has been that rigidly defining fair use would be a hindrance in the future as new ways of presenting content evolve.

The problem here stems from too much leeway in fair use, to the point where deep pockets and large teams of lawyers get to define it. That's a mistake, and fair use advocates need to come together and find a solution that satisfies public need and private copyrights.

Nonstop lawsuits aren't the answer.