Copyright Law

Is it illegal for a toddler to dance to a copyrighted song?

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Contact:

Rebecca Jeschke
Media Coordinator
Electronic Frontier Foundation
press@eff.org
+1 415 436-9333 x125

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:
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California Courtroom 3, 5th Floor 280 South 1st Street San Jose, CA 95113

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/07/15

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/

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Full post as published by Recording Industry vs The People on July 15, 2008 (boomark / email).