Jul 18, 2008 11:52 pm US/Pacific
Mom Challenges Prince Over Copyright In SJ Court
SAN JOSE (CBS 5) ―
A mother who uploaded a
video of her son on YouTube is now trying to teach musician Prince and a major music company a lesson in a San Jose courtroom.
Stephanie Lenz of Pennsylvania made a video of her 13-month-old boy dancing to an almost inaudible song, and posted it on YouTube as thousands of parents do world wide.
Is it cute or routine? Not everybody thinks so. Prince had his attorneys send a "takedown notice" because "Let's go Crazy" - the barely distinguishable song in the background of the dancing baby – is his song and Universal Music's copyright.
A federal judge in San Jose on Friday heard arguments in a lawsuit filed by Lenz. She claims Universal Music misused the takedown notice.
YouTube initially took it down. But Lenz fought back. She sent a letter to YouTube, demanding her video be reinstated. They in turn sent a letter to Universal Music, which represents Prince.
Eventually YouTube posted the video back up because Universal Music never answered. And that's where it would have ended, except Lenz decided to file a lawsuit against Universal Music with the legal help of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco.
"She might be a little bit brave, or maybe nuts," said Tim Kelly of San Francisco. Kelly who has two daughters, ages 5 and 2, routinely posts video on YouTube because his parents and parents-in-law live on the East Coast.
"I wouldn't go through all the hassle for a 30 second video," said Kelly of the lawsuit. "I'd say, 'Okay, I'll take it down.'"
"There's been some comments that have come from Universal that have suggested that Prince is really behind all of this," said Michael Kwun a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
"Prince believes he needs to reclaim his music," Kwum said. "And Universal has decided as a matter of policy that it will issue takedown notices."
Kwum said according to the law, that takedown notices should only be sent under several conditions: the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, not authorized by the copyright owner's agent or if it's not authorized by law.
Kwum argues that using short clips without permission is part of the "Fair Use" doctrine and is authorized by law. The Fair Use doctrine is a common practice in news stories and blogs.
Universal Music, which did not return phone calls to CBS 5, told the court it doesn't need to consider whether a video is indeed Fair Use when it sends out takedown notices.
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