Background: YouTube yesterday (Oct. 14) responded to the complaints from the McCain/Palin campaign about the processing of take down requests under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The letter is here.
The original McCain/Palin letter is here.
The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:
“YouTube’s response to the McCain/Palin campaign should be a wake-up call for Congress and for the next Administration that it is time to take a fresh look at the balance in copyright law. The letter demonstrated the real-world administration of a complex legal structure involved in the notice-and-take down procedures of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
“We certainly agree with the sentiment in the letter that the fair use doctrine should be strengthened and that the take down process should be examined to combat abuse by copyright holders. Last October I outlined a six-point program for reforming copyright law, including strengthening fair use and protecting against abuse of the take-down system. Those ideas and the YouTube letter should form the basis for the discussion of the issues next year.”
Note: Gigi’s speech on copyright reform is
here.
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.