Entertainer Uri Geller has landed in court -- the latest defendant in a string of cases related to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
This week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed
suit against the "paranormalist," accusing him of misusing the DMCA to get a video he found objectionable taken off YouTube. That suit comes just two months after the EFF filed a similar case against Richard Silver, a Groton, Conn. resident who demanded that YouTube remove a
clip showing people performing the "Electric Slide" dance on the grounds that he invented the steps.
In the Geller lawsuit, the EFF claims that Geller and/or his representatives demanded
YouTube purge a 13-minute video of NOVA's "Secrets of the Psychics," which purports to debunk Geller's "psychic" shenanigans. But the clip contains only three seconds of material owned by Geller ---
"a classic fair use of the material for criticism purposes," according to the EFF.
YouTube nonetheless removed the video and suspended the account of the poster, Brian Sapient, a member of the
group "Rational Response Squad." Sapient's account was suspended for more than two weeks, according to the EFF.
The EFF now charges that Geller and his representatives knew or should have known
they had no cause to complain under the DMCA. The organization is asking for an injunction and for damages.
Of course, this scenario has been played out in other non-YouTube contexts, such as when
companies ask Internet service providers to shutter Web sites based on alleged copyright violations. For instance, the EFF recently
concluded a five-year battle stemming from a Web site parodying Barney, with a settlement in the parodist's favor.
In general, the DMCA gives companies like YouTube protection from
copyright lawsuits if those companies quickly take down infringing material at the owner's request. Given the stakes, it's natural that YouTube would remove first and ask questions later -- but this
course of action creates openings for companies to squelch any type of criticism simply by claiming the critics have violated copyright law.
Media companies are exerting pressure on YouTube
to develop a system to screen material for copyright violations before allowing it on the site. But, regardless of whether courts will require YouTube to implement such a system, it's becoming clear
that the video-sharing site needs to vet claims of infringement better before removing them and suspending user's accounts.