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| Prince Rogers performs on stage at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis |
A U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled on Monday that copyright holders must consider fair use before attempting to take down media, like YouTube videos, that use their material.
The decision comes after eight years of legal
wrangling in a case colloquially known as the “dancing baby” suit,
according to The New York Times.
That suit began when a Pennsylvania mother, Stephanie Lenz, posted a
short YouTube clip of her baby dancing to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy”–a
song for which Universal Music Group is responsible for copyright
enforcement. Universal sent YouTube a takedown notice, but Lenz, with
the help of the advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, sued the
company for the takedown.
The appeals court cleared the suit to advance
to trial, while issuing a blow to Universal and other copyright
holders. By requiring them to consider fair use, the judge ruled that
companies first must determine if the use of the material falls under
exception categories like commentary, criticism or news reporting before
sending a takedown notice.
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