McCain/Palin Campaign Angry Over Bogus DMCA Takedowns

Concerns about DMCA [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] takedown abuse and fair use aren’t limited to Lawrence Lessig, the EFF, and Free Press—John McCain and Sarah Palin are going all mavericky on the issue as well. Yesterday, their campaign sent a letter to YouTube complaining about rights holders (especially news organizations) that filed illegitimate DMCA takedown notices and managed to have important campaign clips pulled at crucial times. The letter is yet more evidence of why human judgment—not just automated filtering or scanning—is crucial in such cases.

The letter opens by talking about how important YouTube has been for the campaign’s efforts to get out copies of commercials, speeches, etc., but notes that the site’s usefulness is being curtailed by “overreaching copyright claims.” Many of these claims have involved “fewer than 10 seconds of footage from news broadcasts in campaign ads or videos, as a basis for commentary on the issues presented in the news reports.”

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