contentsecurity2209v2_cs 25/09/2015 17:31 Page 5
'Dancing baby' wins copyright case
federal appeals
court in San
Francisco has
affirmed that copyright
holders must consider
whether a use of material is
fair before
sending a
takedown notice.
The ruling came
in Lenz v.
Universal, often
called the
'dancing baby'
lawsuit.
The Electronic
Frontier Foundation
(EFF) represents
Stephanie Lenz, who—back in
2007—posted a 29-second video
A
“Today’s ruling
sends a strong
message that
copyright law
does not authorise
thoughtless
censorship of
lawful speech.”
OTT password sharing
costs industry $500m
OTT video service credential
sharing will cost the
industry $500 million
(€447m) in direct revenues
worldwide in 2015,
according to research from
Parks Associates examining
video piracy, credential
sharing, and its impact on
OTT revenue.
The report – The
Cost of Piracy –
shows 6% of US
broadband
households use an
OTT video service
that is paid by a
person living
outside of the
household. It also
analyses usage and
impact of livestreaming
8 ContentSecurity
to YouTube of her children
dancing in her kitchen. The
Prince song, Let’s Go Crazy,
was playing on a stereo in the
background of the short clip.
Universal Music Group sent
use before trying to remove
content from the Internet. It
also rejected Universal’s claim
that a victim of takedown abuse
cannot vindicate her rights if
she cannot show actual
YouTube a notice under the
Digital Millennium Copyright
Act (DMCA), claiming that the
family video infringed the
copyright in Prince’s song. EFF
sued Universal on Lenz’s behalf,
arguing that Universal abused
the DMCA by improperly
targeting a lawful fair use.
The United States Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
ruled on September 14th that
copyright holders such as
Universal must consider fair
monetary loss.
“Today’s ruling sends a
strong message that copyright
law does not authorise
thoughtless censorship of lawful
speech,” said EFF legal director
Corynne McSherry. “We’re
pleased that the court
recognised that ignoring fair
use rights makes content
holders liable for damages.”
The ruling in the Lenz case
comes at a critical time,
according to the EFF. Heated
applications such as Meerkat
and Periscope, which are used
to ‘share’ broadcast events
such as Game of Thrones
episodes and the MayweatherPacquiao fight.
“Live-streaming usage has
garnered media attention
recently, but credential
sharing is also a popular form
of piracy in the connected
world, one that has received
varying responses from
service providers and content
owners,” said Glenn Hower,
research analyst, Parks
Associates. “Credential
sharing has a measurable
impact on video services,
particularly in the OTT video
service area, where young
subscribers are active. The
impact on OTT video
revenues is especially
troublesome as OTT
providers are
investing large sums
of money to boost
their original content
offerings.”
The Cost of Piracy
finds 20% of OTT
users aged 18-24 use
an OTT video service