Stephanie Lenz v. Universal Musi Corp. and Others - (14 Sep 2015)

Copyright holders to consider fair use before initiating DMCA takedown

Intellectual Property Rights

In case involving a takedown notification issued to an alleged infringing ‘dancing baby’ video, the United States Court of Appeal determined that Universal Music had issued notice without considering fair use. Though the court determined Universal Music to have misrepresented that it held a good faith belief that the offending activity was not fair use, it rejected the District Court’s conclusion that trial could proceed under a willful blindness theory (taking deliberate actions to avoid confirming a high probability of wrongdoing, having known critical facts). The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 1998 in the United States has been at the forefront of efforts to curb copyright infringement on the internet. In recent years, firms have used its provisions to serve notices on persons sharing or uploading copyright infringing material onto the internet.