Universal are throwing their weight around again. They remind me of an angry Chiwawa in the shadow of a giant Doberman doing what ever they can to be ten foot tall and bullet proof.
In their latest weight swinging, head to head Universal have removed the Megaupload song from Youtube. The song features Kanye West, Mary J. Blige and will.i.am singing the praises of Hong Kong-based file-sharing service Megaupload.
Hmmmm. Do Universal own the rights to the Megaupload song? No. A Youtube spokeman has stated,
"Our partners do not have the right to take down videos from YT unless they own the rights to them or they are live performances controlled through exclusive agreements with their artists, which is why we reinstated it."
The video cost Megupload $3 million to produce and as such they have taken Universal to court with claims that Universal violated a provision in copyright law designed to prevent bogus copyright claims. Universal haven't disclosed why they removed the video in court, but they have accused Megaupload of enabling piracy in the past. And there is more. Universal have tried a game changing tactic in their bid to control digital media by announcing that YouTube's private content filtering system doesn't count as an official takedown notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and thus the company isn't legally liable. According to Universal they have the right to remove anything they like under such an assumption. Ha! Can't wait to see where this one goes.
