Overbearing copyright claims under attack

The CCIA – Computer and Communications Industry Assocation – filed a complaint this morning with the FTC, against the NFL, Major League Baseball, Dreamworks and other media companies, with regard to their copyright statements. While the Fair Use Doctrine allows for the use of copyrighted material in certain circumstances, these media companies tend to use overbearing and, as the CCIA argues, misleading copyright statements. Often times, websites receive takedown notices for materials that are not infringing on copyright laws.

All of this stems from the lack of a standard, clear copyright statement, which the CCIA hopes the FTC will create.

More on:
The CCIA’s complaint here.
Copyright and Fair Use here.
The NFL’s battle with Professor Wendy Seltzer here. Seltzer’s NFL post here.

(the opening clip in today’s audio is from a Michael Moore press conference)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.