> The record labels contended that these videos contained popular songs, and it would’ve been obvious to Vimeo employees that this music was unlicensed.
> But [...] even rightsholders themselves mistakenly demand takedowns. Labels often request takedowns of music they don’t own or control, and even request takedowns of their own content. They also regularly target fair uses. When rightsholders themselves cannot accurately identify infringement, courts cannot presume that a service provider can do so, much less a blanket presumption as to hundreds of videos.
Thank goodness, an island of sanity: Why hold random outsider site employees to a higher standard of recognition in passing, compared to the plaintiff's own professional lawyers doing supposedly detailed checks with access to specialized records about license-grants?
> However what are the realistic implications of this ruling for potential future cases?
In future cases, rightsholders alleging DMCA liability will have to produce stronger evidence that a hoster knew about specific infringing user-uploaded content yet didn't remove it. Interacting with what might be infringing content, telling employees/users that using copyrighted content might be infringing (shocker, but this rightsholder really went for that one), and having the discretion to remove infringing content are not enough to establish that the hoster had actual knowledge of specific infringing user-uploaded content.
> How is challenging DMCA 1201 going?
Poorly, if you're referring to Green v. Department of Justice [1]. The EFF lost that case, and I'm not aware of whether they will appeal that particular case.
> But [...] even rightsholders themselves mistakenly demand takedowns. Labels often request takedowns of music they don’t own or control, and even request takedowns of their own content. They also regularly target fair uses. When rightsholders themselves cannot accurately identify infringement, courts cannot presume that a service provider can do so, much less a blanket presumption as to hundreds of videos.
Thank goodness, an island of sanity: Why hold random outsider site employees to a higher standard of recognition in passing, compared to the plaintiff's own professional lawyers doing supposedly detailed checks with access to specialized records about license-grants?
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