Thursday, February 23, 2012

YouTube Censors Political Video

By claiming copyright infringement, EMI has disrupted free expression and harmed the Internet.

After 457 views and 5 comments, YouTube has blocked a video critical of New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 226 countries, according to information made available by YouTube.

You have disputed a copyright claim on your video, Christine Quinn's Puppet Show and Political Farce (Term Limits Remix).

All content owners have reviewed your video and confirmed their claims to some or all of its content:

Entity: EMI Content Type: Sound Recording"

What should I do?

No action is required on your part. Your video is still available in the locations listed above. In some cases ads may appear next to your video.

What can I do about my video's status?

Please note that the video's status can change, if the policies chosen by the content owners change. You may want to check back periodically to see if you have new options available to you.

The controversial YouTube video was made only with the intention of being political satire.

In fact, this was the initial information submitted by the maker of the controversial YouTube, to protect the free expression nature of the video :

This video uses copyrighted material in a manner that does not require approval of the copyright holder. It is a fair use under copyright law. Copyright notice : Fair use of an excerpt of "Puppet On A String" by Sandie Shaw is claimed under applicable U.S. Copyright laws. The excerpt of the song was transformed into a political satire of the puppet-master relationship between New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and, as such, the appropriate use of the excerpt is different from the original song. This use is intended as a video version of an old-fashioned editorial cartoon.

This is perfect example of the First Amendment dangers of the SOPA (the "Stop Online Piracy Act") and PIPA (the "PROTECT IP Act") bills. The subject recording, "Puppet On A String," by Sandie Shaw, was excerpted for this video ; the entire song was not used. Rather, the song was split into 3 parts, with only the introduction and the second half of the song being used. This video does not purport to use the entire song, nor are the name of the artist and the title of the song used in the title of the controversial YouTube video. It is not known exactly when EMI and YouTube joined forces to block the >Christine Quinn Puppet Show video, but last week a replacement video was posted on DailyMotion :


Christine Quinn's Puppet Show and Political Farce by connaissable

According to information made available by YouTube in respect of the copyright dispute, the political video, "Christine Quinn's Puppet Show and Political Farce (Term Limits Remix)," has been "blocked" by EMI and YouTube in the United States and in 225 other countries, but it remains "available" in 21 countries : Aland Islands, Andorra, France, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe,Guernsey, Guyana, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, New Caledonia, Reunion, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, South Sudan, United Kingdom, Wallis and Futuna, and West Bank -- where it will have no effect to educate the public about Speaker Quinn's record of corruption.

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