CENSORED BY COPYRIGHT
I have got my Michael Moore on and made a new video explaining how my video criticising Lord Finesse has been unfairly removed from YouTube. It should be protected by fair use and fair dealing law both in the US and the UK. However if I want to argue this case I have to be prepared to be sued by someone who is already suing Mac Miller. I believe that the removal of my video is an abuse of the DMCA and is not being used to protect Finesse’s copyright, but rather to silence my criticism of his actions. Evidence supporting this claim is included in the video.
By the way this is my first attempt at a documentary style video so apologies if it appears amateurish – hope it gets the message across clearly. If THIS video is removed then I don’t even
The small claims court seems a perfect solution, it’s exactly what it’s designed for. £25 application fee for this case, you get to hear your claim heard in your local court and the whole process is designed for those who cannot afford expensive lawyers.
Your case will be heard in a court room, but it bypasses most of the pompousness and ceremony of a trial. You’ll basically be sat at a table with your notes and a glass of water, on another table will be whatever legal team Schwartz choose to send (probably one solicitor, if they choose to defend it at all, remember they will have to organise this across the Atlantic, very expensive for them). There may be a barrister present (A type of lawyer who doesn’t solicit the public for work, but works behind the scenes) who is an advisor to the judge if the judge feels the issues are to complex to not have a second opinion.
The judge runs the whole show, he will explain everything to you and make sure you understand what is happening, but what happens is reasonably simple. You will be sueing them to remove the claim on your video, and perhaps for a few pounds to cover your fees and time (£100 would seem the maximum reasonable, but your case would have greater traction without the money claim)
So before court you would send them everything you are planning to base your case on – basically a statement repeating what you said in the video. If you receive nothing in return, this basically means they are not going to contest the case. If they turn up at court, their representative will basically be mute as he cannot say anything that hasn’t been sent to you! If you do receive their defence, then you can make a judgement on whether it will be worth continuing with the process. Worst case scenario, you will get a statement through from them and it makes it plain that you cannot win as they are in the right in the eyes of the law (This won’t happen as we both know) you can still get your £25 back!!
Best case scenario and by far and away the most likely to happen, you will recieve nothing and no-one will attend court to defend them, you would really have to snarf up to not win, basically you would have to go in, tell the judge that your work was fair use in both US and UK law as you did in the video, he will tell you congratulations, you have won, you will get a court order to that effect which you can send to youtube and they will obey the court order and release the claim on your video.
If you go to court and they contest, you will put your case and then they get to put theirs. Now, unlike a more formal court, the judge will drive all the questions, he may ask you a few, he may ask them a few, then he will retire to make a decision.
Judges are not as they are portrayed in popular media, they are intelligent, sharp people who have seen every underhanded legal trick in the book. They are old, but they make a concerted effort to stay in touch.
Of course, don’t take just my word about this, all this information is available on the government website, the courts websites etc. If you want to do this, research it properly. If you need any help at all, I am an email away and if you are reasonably close, I can help you in person (I’m based in Chichester) as I have won exactly this case against Sony Entertainment when they tried to enforce a copyright claim over one of my youtube videos.
You know you are correct both morally and in the eyes of the law. They know it too, they are relying on you taking the easiest course of action but I say fight! I’ll put my money, time and effort where my mouth is and help you fight it too.
You’ll win no problem. Stand up for your rights.
Obviously this is pants and horribly unjust and all.
Seems to me that nub of things here is that it was possible for these guys to have your video taken down because it used a backing track over which Finesse, rightly or wrongly, had a claim (wrongly) which YT would uphold (also wrongly, but they did it.)
In your position I would be thinking seriously about remixing that video with a brand new backing track (possibly even involving an Oscar Peterson sample or similar) with the original lyrics intact plus an extra verse or so about this new part of the story. Then there would be no claim, the video would stay up, and the criticisms would be back out there and then some.
i don’t know how it works in the UK but in the US fair use is a defence not a exception
meaning you COULD legitimately get sued
(“what what in the butt” made things a little easier tho)
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/08/how-what-what-in-the-butt-made-fair-use-easier-to-claim/
My comment about using The Promo Bay doesn’t appear to have passed moderation… 🙁