Revenge of the Retaliatory Takedown: Let's Plays, Fair Use, and an Unstable DMCA
2018; RELX Group (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1556-5068
Autores Tópico(s)Digital Rights Management and Security
Resumo“Let’s Plays” are an internet sensation whereby content creators record themselves while playing video games and providing entertaining commentary. These recordings are subsequently posted to the internet via video sharing platforms such as YouTube, cumulating millions of views and generating thousands of dollars in advertising revenue shared among content creators and YouTube alike. While the DMCA (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and its corresponding takedown procedure is in place to control the use and distribution of copyrighted work on the internet (including the video games that these content creators utilize in Let’s Plays), how does the Act clash with the a new generation of creativity on the internet? This Note explores lingering questions related to these issues by analyzing real-world examples of rightful (and wrongful) DMCA takedowns in the context of Let’s Plays, including the takedown of PewDiePie’s Firewatch Let’s Play and the events surrounding musician Alex Mauer’s DMCA takedown abuse. Furthermore, this Note examines the scope of the prominently referenced defense to copyright infringement in the scope of Let’s Plays — the fair use doctrine — and the limits of that defense. Finally, this Note concludes with the notion that, as written and executed, the DMCA fails to live up to its intended purpose: to support creators in the modern era.
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