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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

YouTube Removing "Free Tibet" Video Due to IOC Copyright Infringement Claim?

RevWaldo at Slashdot writes:

The International Olympic Committee filed a copyright infringement claim yesterday against YouTube for hosting video of a Free Tibet protest at the Chinese Consulate in Manhattan Thursday night. The video depicts demonstrators conducting a candlelight vigil and projecting a protest video onto the consulate building; the projection features recent footage of Tibetan monks being arrested and riffs on the Olympic logo of the five interlocking rings, turning them into handcuffs. YouTube dutifully yanked the video, but it can still be seen on Vimeo. (Be advised; there is some brief footage of bloody, injured monks.)

A commenter named Jeff at Slashdot writes, “If it does depict the five interlocking rings as the summary states then the IOC will aggressively attack it as infringing. The IOC does not let five interlocking rings fly, no matter the context. Ever.” It seems to me the video only makes fair use of the imagery though, and as such, it’s OK to use the rings, no matter what the IOC thinks. Art Popp, another commenter, says, “It wouldn’t surprise me if the legal situation at YouTube was that they yank any clip against which there is a properly filed copyright complaint, and that they follow up later on the actual applicability of copyright law.” (I asked Google/ YouTube for a statement and will update should they reply with information.)

[Via Reddit.]

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