A Copyright Birthday Gift: Iconic “Happy Birthday” Song Freed From Hefty Licensing Fees. Re:Create has been bringing you updates on the “Happy Birthday To You” song copyright case, and this week a federal judge ruled that royalties collected on the song for the past 80 years are invalid. In the New York Post’s September 23 story, Everyone can now sing…

  Yesterday, the district court in Marya v. Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. invalidated one of the most famous, longest lasting, and controversial rights claims in music: Warner/Chappell’s ownership of the copyright in the universally known song Happy Birthday to You. The following can be attributed to Raza Panjwani, Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge: “The district court’s decision finding that Warner/Chappell Music…

U.S. Court Of Appeals Rules In Favor Of Fair Use, Re:Create Coalition Members Support EFF Victory. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sided with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Stephanie Lenz and fair use in a significant September 14 ruling in the “dancing baby” case, Lenz v. Universal. The court ruled copyright holders must consider fair…

Save the date!  The annual Fair Use Week, a celebration of the important doctrines of fair use and fair dealing, will take place from February 22-26, 2016. What is Fair Use Week? Each day teachers teach, students learn, researchers advance knowledge, and consumers access copyrighted information due to copyright limitations and exceptions such as fair use or fair dealing.  Fair use…

  On Monday, the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals held that, yes, you can be sued if you tell an online host to remove content that was a fair use. The case, Lenz v. Universal, stemmed from the notorious “dancing baby” takedown, in which Universal Music sent a takedown notice to YouTube because Stephanie Lenz uploaded a home video of…

  Today, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that copyright holders must consider fair use before sending Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notices in Lenz v. Universal. In a suit often called “the dancing baby case,” Universal Music sent a takedown notice to YouTube claiming that Stephanie Lenz’s home video featuring her toddler dancing to a Prince song…

On September 14, 2015, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in Lenz v. Universal Music that “copyright holders must consider fair use before sending a takedown notification, and that failure to do so raises a triable issue as to whether the copyright holder formed a subjective good faith belief that the use was not authorized by law.” This…

  On Wednesday, we filed an amicus brief in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, asking the court to overturn a district court decision for Flo & Eddie against Pandora. Flo & Eddie, the company that owns the rights to The Turtles’ albums, has sued streaming service Pandora, saying that Pandora needed to get a license to play their records….

U.S. Copyright Office Online Registration System Is Working Again. After 9 long days, the U.S. Copyright Office online registration system was up and running again Sunday evening. In Copyright and other Library of Congress computer systems are working again by the Washington Post’s Peggy McGlone on Sept. 8, Library of Congress officials confirmed the news while at the same time…

Online Copyright Registration System Failure Underscores Need For Copyright Office Modernization. The Copyright Office’s online registration system — eCO — has been unexpectedly down for days with no end in sight, according to Politico’s Alex Byers. In the September 1 Copyright Office online system down after technical snafu (subscription required), Byers reports on the shutdown since Sunday evening: “’As result,…