Prof. Lessig and EFF Will Defend Fair Use in Court - Will This Curtail Big Music's Abuse of the DMCA?

As reported in an August 22, 2103 press release, in conjunction with Prof. Lawrence Lessig, The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed suit against an Australian record company for misusing copyright law to remove a lecture by Prof. Lessig from YouTube: "EFF is asking a federal judge in Massachusetts to rule that the video is lawful fair use, to stop Liberation Music from making further legal threats, and to award damages."

The case revolves around a YouTube video based on a June 2010 lecture Prof. Lessig delivered at a Creative Commons conference in South Korea. That lecture, entitled "Open included several clips of amateur dance videos set to the song "Lisztomania" by the French band Phoenix highlighting "emerging styles of cultural communication on the Internet."

Early on in 2013, "Liberation Music, which claims to own the license to the Phoenix song, began the process to block the video through YouTube's copyright infringement system. After the company submitted a DMCA takedown notice, [Prof.] Lessig filed a counter-notice that asserted the clips were fair use. After Liberation Music threatened to sue Lessig, he retracted the notice. But Lessig did not concede this issue. Instead, he enlisted EFF's help to take Liberation Music to court."