Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

TV Networks Criticized for Blocking Election Videos on YouTube

by Terrence O'Brien on October 26, 2008 at 03:02 PM

Networks Attacked Over Blocking YouTube Election Videos
Despite having signed off on User Generated Content (UGC) principles, which endorse fair use of copyrighted content in protected free speech, several networks have sent takedown requests to YouTube over politically-themed videos that use short clips from copyrighted broadcasts.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) earlier this week sent letters not only to YouTube, but also the networks involved: Fox, NBC, CBN, and CBS. The open letter to the networks requests that they stop sending takedown requests based on short news clips used in election-themed videos. The McCain-Palin campaign has recently been targeted by CBS, CBN, and Fox, and the Obama-Biden ticket had at least one video removed based on a request from NBC.

Fred von Lohmann (senior intellectual property attorney at the EFF) said,"The videos at issue include clips of news footage that last only a few seconds, used as part of constitutionally-protected political speech. This is not piracy, but fair use, no different from what Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show do every night."

In a separate letter to YouTube, the EFF asked the video hosting site to protect users from unfounded takedown requests. The nonpartisan public interest group asked YouTube to immediately respond to counter-notices filed by posters against takedown requests and restore videos that are clear cases of fair use.

Other groups have joined the EFF in protesting the networks heavy handed enforcement of copyright laws, including the ACLU, Citizen Media Law Project, the Center for Social Media, School of Communication, as well as American University's Program for Information Justice & Intellectual Property and their Law School. You can read the entire letters to the networks and YouTube online. [From: EFF Press Room]

Tags: cbn, cbs, copyright, eff, election, electronic frontier foundation, ElectronicFrontierFoundation, fair use, FairUse, fox, law, nbc, politics, takedown, takedown notices, TakedownNotices, youtube

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular