EFF sue after Apple threaten open source project

From the EFF:

" EFF filed suit against Apple Inc. to defend the First Amendment rights of an operator of a noncommercial, public Internet "wiki" site known as Bluwiki.

EFF and the San Francisco law firm of Keker & Van Nest represent OdioWorks LLC, which runs the BluWiki website. Like many “wiki” platforms, such as Wikipedia, it is open to the public for collaborative authoring and editing on any topic. The site is entirely noncommercial, operated by OdioWorks as a public service.

Late last year, after BluWiki users began a discussion about making some Apple iPods and iPhones interoperate with software other than Apple’s own iTunes, Apple lawyers demanded removal of the content. In a letter to OdioWorks, the attorneys alleged that the discussions constituted copyright infringement and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA's) prohibition on circumventing copy protection measures. Fearing legal action by Apple, OdioWorks took down the discussions from the Bluwiki site.

OdioWorks filed the lawsuit in order to vindicate its right to restore those discussions. Filed in federal court in San Francisco, the suit seeks a declaratory judgment that the discussions do not violate any of the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions, and do not infringe any copyrights owned by Apple."

Update: PC World has a report.

YouTube get takedown notice on Lessig talk

Larry Lessig on Twitter:

"Warner Music has issued a takedown of one of my presos on YouTube. Someone send them a copy of §107 ("fair use")."

Cellan-Jones YouTube football video takedown

Rory Cellan-Jones has been on the receiving end of a YouTube takedown and warning notice.

"For the second time in a year, I'm in trouble with YouTube - and finding out just how closely the video-sharing service is now policed for any whiff of copyright infringement.

Last year I received a warning that a video I had uploaded of my family playing in the park featured copyrighted material in the form of a Cat Stevens song, used as a backing track.

In that case it was allowed to remain on the site, although advertising appeared alongside my video, as a result of an agreement between Google and the record labels on "monetising" music videos.

But now a video I uploaded at the weekend has been deleted - and I've received a stiff warning that my whole account could be closed down if I fail to behave myself.

This time the copyright issue involved not music, but football. I'd visited one of the big matches of the weekend - Brentford v Exeter City - and uploaded exactly 37 seconds of action...

I'd somehow forgotten that the Football League are policing YouTube closely - and also assumed that they were looking out for material grabbed from the television, not a few frames of video shot from the crowd.

It looks as though my camera doesn't belong to me once I go through the turnstiles at a football ground. Maybe they should have the same signs that you get at cinemas, warning against the use of a video camera."