Tuesday, December 09, 2008

The Text of the Fraudulent DMCA takedown notice for "I Want To Be A Rebbe"

See this post and this post on this issue. I redacted some information which could be used to identify the issuer -- I know exactly who he is, and sent him an email about this. No response so far:
Hi there, here is a new copyright complaint submission: Copyright Infringement Notification Confirmation

Copyright Owner Name (Company Name if applicable):
Chofetz Chaim

Your Full Legal Name (Aliases, usernames or initials not accepted):
Yisroel Meir Kagan

Your Title or Job Position (What is your authority to make this complaint?):
representative

User Address:
[redacted]

User City:
lakewood

User State:
nj

User Postal Code/Zip:
[redacted]

User Country:
US

Username:
[redacted]

User Email Address:
[redacted]

User Phone:
[redacted]

Describe the work allegedly infringed:
this video is made of stillimages, to which I own the copyright to several of the images. I have successfully removed several copies of this clip, but someone keeps uploading it again. please remove asap!

URL of allegedly infringing video to be removed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5-AYbkaljw&eurl=&feature=player_embedded

Country where copyright applies: US

I state UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY that:
I am the owner, or an agent authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.I have a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and This notification is accurate.I understand that abuse of this tool will result in termination of my YouTube account.
Authorized Signature: Chofetz Chaim

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The "chofetz chaim" did respond to you. I guess your spam filter caught it.

joshwaxman said...

not in my spam folder either. if you are "chofetz chaim," can you provide some text from that email?

Akiva said...

Try hosting it at wejew.com

Anonymous said...

basically- I own some of the images used. they were used without permission.

I don't want to be more specific- just suffice it to say that if someone would not have used my copyrighted material i would not have had to have it removed. (although i believe its a shanda to make fun of "mangeigei eidah" even if i don't see eye to eye with them.)

What would the chofetz chaim say? :)

joshwaxman said...

1) which specific images?? And how did a real estate broker acquire said images, and how were they distributed such that they made it into the video?? If this is the *real* reason you are asking for it to be taken down, I am sure someone would be willing to modify the video to take it out the specific image or images and replace it with another. But you do *not* identify the images, nor do you identify yourself, so that we can ascertain whether you indeed own the copyright to such images.

That you will not identify yourself, the images, or will be more suspicious makes be extremely suspicious.

2) You are not supposed to use a pseudonym on the DMCA notice, and yet you did.

3) And the fake name you supplied was Chofetz Chaim (and elsewhere what seems to me like a deliberate misspelling), which reinforces the idea that you are doing it because of lashon hara concerns.

Sorry, this does not pass the smell test.

As to whether these should have been published, as per the Chofetz Chaim, that is one good question -- what he would say to satire of this particular sort. Most likely he would oppose it. But another good question is whether we should be actively practicing censorship on material we do not like, and possibly violating dina demalchuta and midvar sheker tirchak in our pursuit of it. And if you are willing to make a stand because of legitimate copyright issues, or because of righteous lashon hara issues, then my opinion is that you should also identify yourself in doing so.

Besides all this, there *might* be a fair use allowance despite your purported copyright, since this is an artistic piece which uses it to provide commentary. (IANAL, though.)

KT,
Josh Waxman

joshwaxman said...

also, and the following is sheer speculation -- what you seem to be doing in your response is carefully choosing words to convey a specific impression without lying.

that is, I can interpret it as:
1) you own some of the images used. (do you also have copyright? you do say it later, I think, but you could clarify whether you have the copyright on these particular images.)
2) Therefore, you are in a *position* to issue a DMCA.
3) Therefore, you "had to have it removed." You do not specify why, though this could be either because of business reasons, or because of perceived halachic obligations. במקום שאין אנשים השתדל להיות איש, plus you can rightfully issue this, so you "had to" because an halachic obligation.
4) though regardless, you believe it a shanda.

is this the case, or am i reading too much into this?

Anonymous said...

yes.

joshwaxman said...

heh.

yes, what? (yes, sir?)

you seem to be going out of your way here to be evasive...

Biz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.

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